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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25989772">Of Infinite Possibilities</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanOfFandoms/pseuds/FanOfFandoms'>FanOfFandoms</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Les Misérables - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Barricade wins, Enjolras Has Feelings, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Les Amis Family, Romance with a fun side of politics, Éponine Thénardier Lives</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:34:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>34,856</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25989772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanOfFandoms/pseuds/FanOfFandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Marius finds Éponine shot on the barricade, she dies before the fight really starts. If Enjolras found her... well. That's a different story entirely. And as it turns out... saving her was the easy part, when what follows is actually having to create the new world they were fighting for.<br/>*<br/>Co-posted on FF.net - a rewritten version of my 'What If Enjolnine' series. Romance, friendship, and a healthy sprinkling of angst and h/c. Updates weekly on Wednesdays.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy, Enjolras &amp; Éponine Thénardier, Enjolras/Éponine Thénardier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Walk in the Rain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Enjolras found himself getting progressively more annoyed with one Marius Pontmercy. Not only had the student arrived late for that night's meeting, he had been distant and distracted from the second he'd walked in.</p><p>"Marius, you're late," Enjolras said seriously as said student made his way up the stairs.</p><p>"Apologies, mon ami," Marius smiled sheepishly at him, "I was looking for Éponine. She's doing me a favour."</p><p>"And I suppose you couldn't wait one night to find out if she had completed said favour?" Enjolras commented dryly, "Just sit down and pay attention. We have much to discuss."</p><p>When Enjolras finished speaking ten minutes later, the small smile that had formed as he spoke so passionately of how they would save the people of France turned to a frown. Marius was staring out of the window from his seat, his eyes glazed over and a smile on his face as he reminisced.</p><p>"Marius, what is wrong with you today?!" he demanded, "I'm beginning to think that you didn't listen to a word of what I just said. Please, for the sake of my sanity, say that I am wrong."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Enjolras," Marius said, at least looking slightly guilty, "I've just… got a lot on my mind."</p><p>"Haven't we all, mon ami?" Joly grinned, "Though, you look much worse than the rest of us. Why, did you spot a ghost on your way here?!" Marius smiled slightly.</p><p>"She may well have been a ghost," he said, his voice happy as he remembered the woman from the street, "I only saw her for a moment."</p><p>"Good God," Grantaire feigned a look of shock, "Has Pontmercy finally found himself a lady?! And here I was, thinking that we would never see the day!" Everyone turned to Grantaire, a few chuckling at his statement, "I mean, here is our dear Apollo, preaching about the rights of the people, of how we should all devote our lives to achieve equality... And in comes our friend Marius, as love-struck as one about to be married!"</p><p>The Amis all laughed as Grantaire made his speech, watching as the man waved his arms around in an impression of a lovesick Marius. Only Enjolras was uninterested in the scene.</p><p>As the laughter died down, the revolutionary leader once again took the podium, "It is high time we all stopped acting like schoolchildren," he stated seriously, looking at those around him, "We are grown men, fighting for a cause. Or, do we fight for the right to love, now? Do we fight for something that we are already privileged enough to have?" the men around him were now silent, and Grantaire had the decency to at least look slightly ashamed.</p><p>"We all need to think of the consequences we could face when the time for us to fight comes. We are not children; we need to stop acting as if we are. We must take charge of our own lives, and things that take our attention away from what is important must not distract us. The world is changing by the day, mes amis, and the people call for our help and our help alone, for we are the only ones who will fight for them. "</p><p>"You don't understand, Enjolras!" Marius protested, "If you had seen her today... you would be as struck as I am. She captured my heart without even trying. It is she who is changing my world, never mind the government changing the country."</p><p>"Please, Marius!" Grantaire called, ignoring the glare Enjolras was shooting him, "Enlighten us on how your beloved has captured your soul, for you clearly wish to express your irrepressible feelings!"</p><p>"She makes me feel as if my world is focused solely on her," Marius began immediately, apparently not hearing the groans from the Amis, "She sets my very heart, my very soul, on fire. Without her... I am nothing."</p><p>"All of that from one bloody glance across the street..." Courfeyrac muttered to Feuilly who chuckled quietly.</p><p>"Marius, you are not a child." Enjolras repeated firmly, "There are more important things in life than this girl, whoever she may be. You have been an asset to the cause up until now. I urge you to not make the mistake of changing that."</p><p>"No one cares about your lonely soul, Marius!" Grantaire called, "We have more important things to do, obviously. Our dear leader has spelt it out for you, has he not?"</p><p>"We must live by the colours of the world we live in, my friends," Enjolras' voice rose, "We must change as they do, and we must fight for what is right. We are mere pawns in a much larger game."</p><p>Before he could continue, Gavroche burst into the room, making everyone fall silent.</p><p>"General Lamarque is dead."</p><p>Silence fell across the room once more; Lamarque? Dead? They all knew that this day had been coming. What they hadn't expected was for it to arrive so soon.</p><p>"Lamarque's death is the sign we’ve been waiting for," Enjolras said quietly, "On his funeral day, we shall fight, in his name, for the people of France. We will free the oppressed and we shall make our country a better place! Prepare yourselves, mes amis. Our time is almost here!"</p><p>As cheers erupted from those in the room, Marius ran to the stairs, only Enjolras seeing him go. Éponine waited for him halfway up the staircase, and they conversed quietly for a moment before Éponine led him away.</p><p>Enjolras watched them go, his friend who had been led astray, and the curious girl who seemed to be so much more than what she seemed to be on the surface. He barely listened to a word Courfeyrac said to him in the next thirty seconds, unable to concentrate on anything except Marius' exit.</p><p>"Excuse me, mon ami," he said quietly. Courfeyrac nodded understandingly, instead turning to Combeferre to continue his speech.</p>
<hr/><p>Combeferre really did try to focus on what Courfeyrac was telling him about their plans for artillery but, really, how was he supposed to concentrate when Enjolras had walked out at the exact moment they needed him most?! It was the eve of revolution and their leader had disappeared without a word, following Pontmercy after his precious lark, no less.</p><p>“’Fey,” Combeferre had to interrupt him after five minutes, “Where do you think Enjolras ran off to?” Courfeyrac frowned at him in disbelief.</p><p>“We’re about to put our lives on the line and you’re worried that Enjolras has gone for an evening stroll?” he scoffed quietly, “Good to see that you’ve got your priorities straight, ‘Ferre!”</p><p>Combeferre rolled his eyes, “I know where I stand, mon ami,” he reassured him, “But I hardly think us doing anything without Enjolras here will end well...”</p><p>His friend laughed quietly, “We’re not incapable, Combeferre!” he exclaimed, “Where is your spirit?! We’re about to fight the National Guard, for god’s sake! Use some initiative! Now, tell me where we’re going to source enough weapons for all of us and the people, because if we fall down on something like that, Enjolras is going to murder us twice on the other side...”</p><p>“It’s not exactly like Enjolras, though is it?” Combeferre pressed, “You know what he’s like, Courf; he’s barely allowed us to take charge of anything these last few months. Now the revolution is on our doorstep and he’s happy to let us get on with it?”</p><p>Courfeyrac sighed, “What do you me to say, ‘Ferre? That we should go after him? Because I doubt he’ll thank us for following him.”</p><p>Combeferre groaned quietly, “Alright, fine,” he muttered, “What’s the worst that could happen, I suppose...”</p><p>Courfeyrac grinned, clapping him on the shoulder, “That’s the spirit, Combeferre!” he glanced around the room, stopping at what he saw in the corner of the room, “Grantaire! Put the bloody bottle down and detach yourself from Mademoiselle Elaine!”</p><p>“Oh, get off your high horse, ‘Fey, you’d be in my position in a heartbeat if any self-respecting woman would take you!” Grantaire called back, revelling at the frown his jibe had placed on his friend’s face.</p><p>“I bet you wish Enjolras was here now,” Combeferre said with a smirk, “Grantaire wouldn’t dare to do anything like that if Enjolras was around to see it.”</p><p>“Just show me your plans, ‘Ferre,” Courfeyrac rolled his eyes, “I’m sure we can manage without Enjolras for half an hour...”</p>
<hr/><p>Unbeknown to Marius and Éponine, Enjolras followed them all the way to Cosette's. Of course, he was going to keep an eye on Marius; he didn't want his friend to get too carried away and propose to her or anything stupid like that. Marius was, as Enjolras had said before, an asset to the cause; he wanted to keep it that way.</p><p>But then he thought of the way Éponine looked at Marius when he wasn't looking. It was a look of love, and happiness, but also of pain and disappointment.</p><p>And that interested Enjolras. He had never quite understood why people pretended to feel something different to what they were actually feeling, but here it was happening right in front of him. It wasn't unknown that Éponine had a thing for Marius; yes, she was a fighter and she got herself in her fair share of sticky situations, but there were times when she really did follow Marius around as if she were a puppy and he was her owner. It was as if her very personality contradicted itself.</p><p>'So why on Earth was she helping Marius find his true love?' was the real question that had struck Enjolras as he had slipped away from the commotion inside the cafe. Which brought him to where he was now, following Éponine and Marius down a maze of streets, always staying out of sight; he wasn't stupid after all, and knew that Marius would happily punch him without any reservations if he found out.</p><p>Enjolras noted how Éponine stood back as Marius approached the girl of his dreams at her garden gate, the two expressing their love for each other. The pain was clear on Éponine's face, and Enjolras frowned; was Marius really so blind that he could not notice Éponine's so obvious feelings? He certainly seemed to have eyes only for the girl he had spotted momentarily across the street.</p><p>Enjolras remained behind a wall as Marius and Cosette conversed, watching both the loving couple and Éponine, trying to decide which of the two left him more annoyed.</p><p>A man's voice rang out, supposedly Marius' love's father, calling Cosette inside. Marius watched after her as she ran back to the house, before turning around reluctantly, passing both Éponine and Enjolras without even noticing them.</p><p>Éponine stood there, apparently trying to hold herself together as different footsteps echoed down the side street. Enjolras backed further into the shadows to avoid detection, and a group of men passed by his hiding place, their voices ringing out.</p><p>"Who is this hussy?" Thénardier sneered. Enjolras grimaced angrily; was the man so stupid that he didn't recognise his own daughter in the night?</p><p>"It's your brat Éponine, don't you know your own kid?" one of his idiot gang voiced Enjolras' own thoughts.</p><p>"Éponine, go home, we don’t need you for this." Thénardier said, walking past her and waving her away. Éponine looked around desperately.</p><p>"I know this house," she said desperately, "There's nothing here for you! Just an old man and his daughter, they have nothing that you’ll want!"</p><p>"Don't interfere," Thénardier said, his voice quiet but harsh, "You've got some gall. Take care, my girl, or your mouth shall run away from you and-"</p><p>"I'm going to scream, I’ll warn them! The police will come!" she said, a hint of defiance added to the desperation in her tone.</p><p>"One little scream," Thénardier said, his voice sharp and warning, "You'll regret it for a year."</p><p>Éponine looked around desperately, before screaming as loud as she could. This caught Enjolras' attention, and he leaned forward to look around the side of the wall. Éponine did not cower in front of her poor excuse of a father as he threatened her.</p><p>"You wait, my girl, you'll rue this night, I'll make you scream-" Éponine had no reservations when it came to spitting in her father's face, "You'll scream alright!"</p><p>Enjolras was on the verge of breaking point; how dare he treat Éponine, strong, beautiful Éponine, in such a way as that?!</p><p>The crack of Thénardier's palm connecting with Éponine's face pushed Enjolras over the edge.</p><p>"If I were you, monsieur, I would think before I act," Enjolras' said, his voice careless but the threat unmistakable, "But I am not you. And therefore, all I can do is strongly suggest that you keep your hands to yourself." Éponine met his eyes and she shook her head slightly, warning him away from the situation.</p><p>"Oh, you do, do you?" Thénardier sneered, approaching him.</p><p>"That's right, monsieur." Enjolras said, looking down slightly at the pathetic excuse of a man.</p><p>"I think this little boy needs to be taught a lesson!" Thénardier laughed threateningly.</p><p>Enjolras scoffed, "I beg you to try," he said, spreading his arms out to welcome the men to have a go, "But I will warn you: I am a revolutionary. I am armed with more than one weapon and I am certainly not afraid to go down fighting. Oh, and..." he cocked his head slightly, listening, "I believe your daughter has alerted the police. So, do please run along, monsieur, because, frankly: you're both boring me, and wasting my time."</p><p>Thénardier stood back slightly, glancing around to his followers. They all looked to him for guidance.</p><p>"Make for the sewers," Thénardier said suddenly, "Go underground!" the men scattered, leaving Éponine alone with Enjolras.</p><p>"Why did you do that?" she asked as he approached her.</p><p>"Because your father is an ass." Enjolras said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "And he hurt you."</p><p>"That was nothing," she muttered. Enjolras frowned, confused, "My father is not the only ass I live around." Was the only explanation Éponine offered him. Enjolras brushed her cheek, red from the hit. She flinched away slightly, then leaned into his hand, smiling at the warmth on her face. Drops of rain fell onto the pavement, then onto the two of them, progressing from a few drops to a downpour in a matter of seconds.</p><p>"We should go," Enjolras took her hand in his, "Before the police arrive. And besides, it won't do us any good standing out in the rain." She smirked slightly, leaning against his arm as they walked.</p><p>“I happen to like the rain, monsieur,” she countered, but she let him lead the way, not trying to stop him.</p><p>“Of course you do, mademoiselle,” Enjolras replied drily, “I, however, would rather not catch a chill in the days running up to the revolution.”</p><p>They were both silent for a moment before Éponine spoke again.</p><p>"Thank you," she said quietly, "Not many people would have stepped in."</p><p>"I'm not 'many people'," Enjolras shrugged, "And, for the record, I, er... I think Marius is an ass. And a blind one at that." Éponine grimaced, but shrugged.</p><p>"Perhaps he is," she muttered, "Are you an ass?"</p><p>"I sincerely hope not," Enjolras chuckled, "Grantaire may disagree."</p><p>"I don't believe you're an ass," Éponine told him seriously, "Spirited, maybe. Not an ass."</p><p>"Thank you, mademoiselle," he nodded.</p><p>They fell into another silence, neither of them really feeling the need to fill it as they walked.</p><p>"Monsieur, if I may... I must ask that you tell no one of what you saw," Éponine said after a few minutes, "Obviously I have no right to ask anything of you but-"</p><p>"Your secret is safe with me, mademoiselle," he assured her. She smiled.</p><p>"Thank you," she said, "Again, I suppose. I know you didn't have to do either of those things."</p><p>"It wouldn't do for me to deny anything of one who fights for my cause, would it?" he questioned as the Musain came into sight.</p><p>“Who says I fight for your cause, monsieur?” Éponine asked, some of her usual defiance slipping into her tone. Enjolras simply breathed a laugh.</p><p>“You come to more meetings than almost anyone,” he pointed out, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed. And don’t say that you’re there for Marius, either, I’ve seen you without him, making faces at my speeches.”</p><p>Éponine frowned, blushing slightly, “Well, your ideas certainly aren’t perfect,” she pointed out, and Enjolras couldn’t deny that she was right, “But at least you have ideas. I suppose I’m not opposed to everything you have to say.”</p><p>“I will accept that as the highest praise from you, mademoiselle,” Enjolras replied, no hint of insincerity in his tone.</p><p>They were soaked through by the time they reached the café, and they went their separate ways once reaching the door, Éponine slipping out the back to run home and change, and Enjolras into the very centre of the planning for the next day's revolution, acting as if he had never been gone.</p>
<hr/><p>Enjolras was only gone for twenty minutes, but that was long enough to earn the suggestive glances he received when he arrived back at the Musain soaking wet and with Éponine at his side. Combeferre didn’t even know that the two were acquaintances, let alone anything more, but he had known Enjolras for long enough to leave the matter alone.</p><p>Their leader, predictably, ignored the suggestive looks, returning to his seat next to Courfeyrac and immediately continuing their conversation, not even allowing his two friends an opportunity to question his absence.</p><p>“Has Marius’ shadow found a new body to follow, Apollo?!” Grantaire called loudly across the room. Enjolras shut his eyes, attempting to compose himself as Combeferre and Courfeyrac shared a worried glance; it wouldn’t be the first time that Enjolras and Grantaire had ended up shouting insults at each other.</p><p>“Grantaire, would you like to weigh in?” Enjolras replied eventually, “We’re discussing how to source enough artillery in the next few days and where to store it. It could make or break our entire operation.”</p><p>The meaning behind Enjolras’ statement was clear: that there was much more that could make or break their fight than just artillery – loyalty and comradery would be key too their success, or to their failure.</p><p>Enjolras and Grantaire held each other’s gaze for almost a full ten seconds before Grantaire put the bottle in his hand down and took the remaining empty seat at their table.</p><p>There was silence for another moment before Enjolras continued from where he left off, and it was as if the last half an hour had never happened.</p><p>Enjolras, however, was more than aware of the fact that it had. He couldn’t help but think that Éponine had made a fantastic point in saying that he wasn’t perfect – he had been fighting what had felt like a solo battle for so long that he had placed all of his faith in his own ideas, his own beliefs, long since forgetting to wonder if they might counter those of the people he was trying to help. It occupied his thoughts for the rest of that evening, and he’d be lying if he’d said that he hadn’t changed some of his original plans after asking himself ‘What would Éponine think?’.</p><p>Éponine herself was equally as preoccupied. She had thought she’d been so subtle, slipping into meetings with the crowds and obscuring herself however she could, keeping her opinions silent although, clearly, not secret. Enjolras had noticed her, and having had to try so hard for Marius to offer her the same courtesy, to have it served to her on a platter was… unusual. Enjolras had certainly confirmed what she had been thinking for so long: Marius didn’t see herm either for what she wanted him to see or for what she truly was. Maybe it was about time she stopped trying.</p><p>With the revolution looming over their very heads, however, neither Enjolras, nor Éponine, was willing to give up everything they believed in just because they’d shared a small moment when walking through the rain.</p><p>Not yet, anyway.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Through the Storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The preparations for the rebellion were almost complete three days later; with Lamarque's funeral the next day, Enjolras was confident in the plans he and the Amis had developed over the previous days. He even found himself to be excited; the day had finally arrived, after months of tireless and dedicated planning.</p><p>The night before the rebellion, however, he found his thoughts drifting to things besides the looming fight. He was focused, of course; he was thinking about how the rebellion would help the oppressed in France, should it succeed. It was a very valid, very relevant thought.</p><p>The not-so-relevant part was the fact that his mind drifted from thinking of how the rebellion would help the oppressed as a whole, to how it would help one individual:</p><p>Éponine.</p><p>It was stupid. He knew it was, really. There was, after all, a very high chance that he wouldn't even survive the rebellion. He didn't even really know why his mind kept flicking to Éponine; he had never truly experienced the feeling of attraction towards a woman, and he never expected to. Patria was his only love... In theory, that is. What he was feeling towards Éponine was... strange.</p><p>Thinking this through as he lay in bed, he shook his head.</p><p>There's a time and a place to finally find love, Enjolras, he thought to himself, rolling over and pulling the blanket on his bed up higher, now is not it.</p><hr/><p>The following morning, Enjolras pushed the thoughts of Éponine aside; he had a rebellion to partake in.</p><p>"Are you quite well, mon ami?" Combeferre questioned as they made their way into the crowds walking to line the streets where the procession for Lamarque's funeral would take place, "You look like you've been up half the night! Did the excitement catch hold?" Enjolras smiled slightly.</p><p>"Something like that," he replied, ducking past a group of well-dressed old men, "Honestly, half of the people here are just mindless politicians who are here because they're required to be..."</p><p>"You think so?" Combeferre frowned, "He was a popular, likable man, Enjolras... I imagine he had some friends, at least."</p><p>"Perhaps," Enjolras agreed, "But I've counted at least thirty-... four politicians. There were far too many who disagreed with his views of the people to be his 'friends', as you put it." Combeferre sighed.</p><p>"Sometimes, I wish you didn't have a point," he muttered, following Enjolras as his friend sped up to get to the front of the crowd at the edge of the street.</p><hr/><p>Éponine frowned as she pulled the cap lower over her head; the things she did for Marius... Because she was, of course, only there to protect him. Keeping Marius safe was her number one priority.</p><p>Or that was what she kept telling herself.</p><p>The revolutionary leader (who, she kept having to remind herself, saved her from a possible beating) had intrigued her... he had been right by saying that he was 'not many people'. Not even her precious Marius would have done what Enjolras did.</p><p>And he had made her question herself: did she love Marius? Perhaps. She certainly felt something akin to love, or what little she knew of the emotion anyway. But he would never risk himself for her, he had proved that the night she had taken him to meet Cosette. But Enjolras...</p><p>Enjolras was simply something else. And that was where she intended to stay on the matter.</p><p>Pulling her cap down further, she launched herself into the chaos now following General Lamarque's coffin down the street.</p><p>She was, after all, there to keep Marius safe, something she wouldn't achieve from standing at the side of the road, trying to work out the mystery that was the revolutionary leader standing on top of the coffin carriage.</p><hr/><p>Enjolras couldn’t believe how quickly things had gone downhill.</p><p>He had expected it, and yet seeing it before his very eyes was still… unbelievable.</p><p>They had dealt with the spy, Javert, who was currently sitting under watch at the back of the Musain, tied up and gagged (Enjolras had tied the knots himself, tighter than necessary to try and displace some of the utter embarrassment and anger at himself that he was feeling). Within minutes, the sounds of the approaching national guard were enough to whip the group of revolutionaries into a bizarre semi-organised frenzy.</p><p>He was yelling at friends and strangers alike, barking orders that he didn’t even hear himself saying, his mind too focused on the next problem they had to face. He hoped beyond all hope that the words coming out of his mouth weren’t just utter rubbish and that he was making some sense to the people around him.</p><p>Clearly something was working, because no one seemed to be staring at him like they thought he needed to be sectioned, and their opposition had yet to properly breach the barricade, so at least something was going right.</p><p>It did, however, feel like things were about to go very, very wrong.</p><p>And then… then Marius was climbing the barricade with a torch and a barrel of gunpowder, and Enjolras’ heart stopped halfway up his throat.</p><p>“Get back!” Enjolras finally managed to yell, waving the people around him backwards. His turned back to Marius, trying to work out if the man was bluffing or just suicidal.</p><p>“Retreat, or I’ll blow the barricade!” Marius’ voice held no indication of a lie. Suicidal, then, Enjolras decided, creeping as close to the man as he dared.</p><p>“Blow the barricade, and you’ll take yourself with it!” one of the guards called back.</p><p>Marius didn’t even look back as he replied, “And myself with it.”</p><p>Everyone seemed to collectively hold their breath, the conviction in his tone leaving no room for doubt. No one dared to make a sound until the guard swore and then called the order to retreat. No one moved until the guards were out of sight.</p><p>Enjolras took the flaming torch from Marius, one part of him still wondering what the hell he’d been thinking, and the other part admiring him for what he had done, what he had been willing to do, for the cause.</p><p>He climbed back down the barricade, throwing the torch in a bucket of water, hearing the sizzle of the dying flame. Appropriate, he thought, that even fire, capable of so much destruction, is dying because of the cause.</p><p>He moved to let Marius pass and then absentmindedly followed after him, hearing a definite mixture of love and hate being directed towards Marius at that very moment. As Marius' way was blocked by someone who seemed to already be mid-rant, Enjolras carried on forwards, almost tripping over Éponine.</p><p>"Éponine?" he questioned. She looked up from her position lying on the floor, surprise etched across her face.</p><p>"Enjolras," she acknowledged him, "How do you know my name?"</p><p>"Probably the same way you know mine," he said frowning, "I listen, and I notice things. Everyone seems to know you around here, Éponine.”</p><p>"I find it hard to believe that I am more well-known than you," she said, almost smirking. She winced in pain, and Enjolras crouched down beside her, a concerned look on his face.</p><p>"What's wrong?" he asked. Éponine smiled slightly; his reputation exceeded him, and even if it hadn't their interaction a few nights previously had demonstrated how very rare it was for him to show any kind of concern or compassion for anything or anyone except his cause.</p><p>"It's nothing," she said, pulling her jacket tighter around her to try and hide her wound. Enjolras' sharp eyes noticed the movement, however, and he pulled her coat back again.</p><p>"You're hurt," he said, "You need help!" she shook her head.</p><p>"There's nothing to be done now," she took his hand in hers, pulling it away from her coat.</p><p>"Whilst you are still breathing, there is something that can be done." Enjolras insisted.</p><p>"Then you won't have to wait very long," she said. Even Enjolras could not deny that her voice was weaker.</p><p>"You shouldn't be here," Enjolras shook his head, "You... you shouldn't suffer. Not for this."</p><p>"What makes me any different than all of the others here?" she demanded, her voice a little stronger with anger, "There is nothing special about me, monsieur. And my suffering will do little to change the course of the cause for which we are fighting." Enjolras chuckled.</p><p>"My dear Éponine," he shook his head proudly, "You have been listening out for me, haven't you? I'm honoured, truly. But you will not die here."</p><p>And with that, he scooped her up into his arms, earning him not only a gasp of pain from Éponine, but a slapped face alongside.</p><p>"Is that your way of saying thank you?" Enjolras asked, smirking.</p><p>"No it is not," Éponine said, reluctantly clinging to him as he started to move, "I'm not sure your attitude was what I expected to be faced with in my final moments."</p><p>"Well, perhaps it won't be," Enjolras murmured, "For your final moments are a long way off, mademoiselle."</p><p>"I suppose there is little point in arguing with you, monsieur?" Éponine asked wearily.</p><p>"No point at all," Enjolras agreed. Éponine sighed, but rested her head against Enjolras' shoulder.</p><p>"Marius," Enjolras caught his attention as he passed. The student in question had been arguing with Grantaire (a very drunk Grantaire, and so the argument was more than certainly pointless).</p><p>"Éponine?!" Marius said worriedly, "What is it, what's wrong?"</p><p>Talking over Éponine's feeble attempts to assure Marius she was fine, Enjolras handed out his orders, "I'm taking her to the nearest hospital. You, and Combeferre, wherever he is... do not let this place fall tonight. I'll be back sometime before morning. No one else dies until the cause is achieved, you hear me?"</p><p>"Received and understood," Marius nodded.</p><p>"Marius," Éponine said quietly, struggling to pull the letter from Cosette out of her pocket. She handed it to him, "It's from Cosette. I kept it from you... I'm sorry." Marius looked down at the note in his hand, before kissing Éponine softly on the forehead.</p><p>"Bring her home," he demanded on Enjolras, who shook his head unbelievably.</p><p>"What other result would I accept from this?" he asked rhetorically. Marius clasped his shoulder, and the two men shared a knowing look before Enjolras set off.</p><p>Enjolras travelled as fast as he dared so as not to cause Éponine any unnecessary pain. More than once she told him that what he was doing was futile, and each time he protested, but allowed her to continue babbling; as long as she was talking, she wasn't dying, and that thought kept him focused on getting her where she needed to be.</p><p>About half way there, rain started to fall onto the two of them. Enjolras shifted Éponine in his arms and slipped off his beloved red jacket, draping it over her despite her protests.</p><p>"Enjolras, I can't just take your coat-"</p><p>"Éponine, you're the one wounded and at risk of infection; I can last an hour or two without my jacket!"</p><p>Éponine groaned, "Why must you be so stubborn?!" she demanded.</p><p>"Me?! You’re the one who seems so stubbornly set on dying!"</p><p>"You needn't fret, monsieur," she said quietly, "I'll be fine. You're rather focused on that fact, are you not?"</p><p>And Enjolras was. But he wouldn't give Éponine the satisfaction of knowing she was right, whether she was on the brink of death or not.</p><hr/><p>Courfeyrac had volunteered to take the first watch, and Combeferre had asked Feuilly to relieve him an hour or so later. Marius and Combeferre walked around, hearing snippets of stories being told as they took inventory of their remaining ammunition and checked on those who had been wounded. Thankfully, only a few people had been injured, the majority of them not seriously. They had yet to have any fatalities.</p><p>“It’s a sign,” Combeferre said, a small smile on his face, “No one has died yet. We have all survived our first battle.”</p><p>“We think,” Marius muttered, “Who knows what’s happened to Enjolras and Éponine? For all we know, they might be…” he trailed off, unable to find the courage to say the last word of his sentence.</p><p>“No,” Combeferre said firmly, “They’ll be fine, both of them. Besides, in times like this… we must take these small victories. We won, Marius.”</p><p>“We won the battle,” Marius insisted, “We haven’t won the war. We will need the people to come through for us to do that.”</p><p>Combeferre sighed, “Not two hours ago, you were willing to blow yourself up to win us this battle,” he said, “Where has your fighting spirit gone, mon ami?”</p><p>They entered the Musain, their favourite meeting place looking foreign without most of its furniture and with injured and tired people lounging wherever they could find a space. Marius sat in one of the last remaining chairs, Combeferre leaning against the wall next to him.</p><p>“Éponine gave me a letter,” Marius said eventually, “From Cosette. The, er… the woman that I have become…”</p><p>“Obsessed with? Yes, I’m aware of Mademoiselle Cosette,” Combeferre said drily, “Is that what has caused your sudden sombreness? Or did the letter prompt your recklessness on the barricade?”</p><p>Marius shrugged, a slightly sheepish smile on his face, “Both, I suppose,” he admitted, “She… she’s moving, to England. I’ll probably never see her again. I just… what’s the point of me living if I can’t be with her?”</p><p>Combeferre breathed out audibly, “Marius, you met this girl less than a week ago,” he pointed out, “Now, I’m all for love at first sight, but… clearly she cannot be convinced to stay.”</p><p>“It’s not her!” Marius insisted, “It’s her father. He would never understand, ‘Ferre. I… I’ve got nothing to offer her. My family have all but disowned me, and the way all of you reacted is testament to what most people think of how I feel about her. He’ll scoff at me and slam the door in my face if I tried to ask him for her hand. And that’s if I survive all of this. So… what’s the point?”</p><p>Combeferre sighed again, “Marius, mon ami… the point of this, of all of this, is that we make the world a better place. And I am a strong believer that love can brighten the darkest of days. If we get through this, and I have faith that we will… then you should let nothing, be it a revolution, or a father, or an ocean, stop you from being with the one you love. Because, Christ… if <em>you</em> can’t have a happy marriage, then the rest of us are truly doomed…”</p><p>Marius smiled, just slightly, at that, “You’re right,” he said, “We do have to survive first. Survive and not get arrested.”</p><p>Combeferre snorted quietly, “After months of dealing with Enjolras the way he has been, that part should be a piece of cake,” he joked, “And for all you know, mon ami, your love’s father heard that you were on the barricade and came running to help us. Perhaps you have more time to get back to your darling Cosette than you think.”</p><p>“Perhaps,” Marius said, but the smirk on his face made his disbelief clear, “Come on. Let’s go around all the supplies again. Unless I’m very much mistaken, it looks like it’s about to rain. If the last of our gunpowder gets wet, we’re done for…”</p><p>“Perhaps we should gather it inside?” Combeferre suggested, “There aren’t many badly wounded, I’m sure we can find somewhere out of harm’s way. We can set people up to watch for snipers and stay in a big group to stop them trying to pick us off one by one.”</p><p>Marius frowned, “We’ll get soaked if we’re left to stand outside,” he said, “Do you want us to catch a chill?!”</p><p>“Better to catch a chill than to catch death-by-bullet,” Combeferre pointed out.</p><p>Marius seemed to consider this for a moment before standing up, ordering the people closest to them to clear space for the gunpowder. Combeferre simply smirked, following Marius’ lead and pushing the last remaining items of furniture to the sides of the rooms. Goodness knows what Enjolras would think when he returned, but for now, at least he couldn’t blame them for losing the last of their ammunition in his absence.</p><hr/><p>It felt like an age, and Éponine was considerably weaker by the end of it, but Enjolras did it: he managed to get Éponine to a hospital before either of them had lost their lives.</p><p>The second he made their presence known at the hospital, he was overwhelmed by a swarm of doctors and nurses. Enjolras was about to leave Éponine in their capable hands, knowing that she was in the best place at that moment in time, but she held onto his hand.</p><p>"Stay with me?" she begged. Enjolras experienced something he never had before: the inability to say no to someone.</p><p>And so he sat by her bedside as the doctors worked, singing softly to her as she drifted in and out of consciousness. He sat with her for hours until, finally, the doctors told him that she was out of immediate danger.</p><p>With that news, Enjolras left a sleeping Éponine at the hospital, leaving a message with a nurse that he would return in a day's time. Never before had he believed in his cause more. He finally realised that this was how Marius felt about Cosette: like she was what he was fighting for.</p><p>And Enjolras vowed to come out alive, for Éponine's sake. His cause was no longer the only thing that mattered. Now he had Éponine.</p><p>Enjolras returned to the barricade in the early hours of the morning to find everyone gathered outside the cafe, soaking wet, the gunpowder nowhere to be seen.</p><p>"Enjolras!" Marius exclaimed happily, before noticing Éponine's absence, "Is..."</p><p>"She is safe," Enjolras assured him, "And out of danger." Gavroche, who had been listening in a few feet away, sighed with relief.</p><p>"You saved my sister," Gavroche said, "I owe you. Big time."</p><p>"You stand beside me and my cause, Gavroche," Enjolras almost smiled, a sight very rarely seen by Les Amis de L'ABC, "You owe me nothing. Now, what is going on with this absurd gathering in the middle of the barricade?! What is wrong with inside, out of immediate shooting range?"</p><p>"We were protecting the gunpowder from the rain," Marius explained, "We'll get ourselves killed a lot quicker without anything to protect ourselves with." Enjolras nodded his approval – it was probably not what he would have done, but who was he to judge? A few hours ago, he probably wouldn’t have carried a near-stranger through the rain to save her life. And yet, here they were…</p><p>"Listen, everybody!" he called out, climbing on top of a chair that was just about intact, "No more shall die for this cause. We shall fight for our right to be free, our right to democracy, our right to be equal. And we will win. Because we are not only fighting for a better France. We are fighting for ourselves. For our right to live how we like. For our right to live. I know many of you generally think I'm a crazy, and heartless. That I fight against my enemies without so much as a thought to others around me, and if you do think that, then you are most probably right. But my eyes have been opened and… and now I do not just fight to make a point, or to cause trouble. I fight to win. To set the people of France free from the shackles of poverty, corruption and injustice. I will win this fight for freedom if it is the last thing I do. And I hope you’ll fight alongside me."</p><p>The silence almost echoed down the streets as everyone stared up at Enjolras, gobsmacked by their leader's speech. And then, in unison:</p><p>"Red- the blood of angry men,</p><p>Black- the dark of ages past." Enjolras smiled, properly smiled, and joined in with his fellow fighters: his friends.</p><p>"Red- a world about to dawn,</p><p>Black- the night that ends at last!"</p><hr/><p>Later that night, Enjolras found himself keeping watch. His mind wouldn't stop focusing on Éponine and, though he realised that this could be the death of him if it took his focus away from the fight, he found that he didn't care.</p><p>He turned his head as he heard someone climbing the barricade behind him, and came face to face with Grantaire.</p><p>"Mind if I join you?" the drunkard asked, his words slurring slightly. Enjolras grimaced, but gestured for the man to sit beside him.</p><p>"I honestly cannot believe that you're getting drunk at a time like this," Enjolras muttered.</p><p>"It might be the last chance I get, Apollo," Grantaire shrugged, "You can't begrudge me it when I may be dead this time tomorrow."</p><p>"I told you," Enjolras said, "No one else is going to die."</p><p>"Yes, yes, I know," Grantaire waved him off, "You don't just fight for the people, you fight for equality for all, blah, blah, blah. It was too hard for you to just come out and say it, I suppose?" Enjolras frowned.</p><p>"Say what, exactly?" he questioned. Grantaire chuckled.</p><p>"Either you don’t want to admit it or you are as blind as Pontmercy. Or both," Grantaire said, "You're not just fighting for the people, or for yourself, or 'to win' as you put it: you're fighting for Éponine." Enjolras opened his mouth to argue and then found that he had nothing to protest. Grantaire, and he couldn't believe he was saying this... was right.</p><p>"You see?" Grantaire asked quietly, "Even you cannot deny it. And I'll tell you something, Apollo, that I've never said before and you will never hear again. I do not fight in this battle for the cause, as I find it pointless and unachievable. I fight for you, because I believe in you and because you are my friend. And I have never believed in you more than I do right now. Do you know what I see in you now that I have never seen before?" Enjolras just shook his head, too shocked by his friend's speech to speak.</p><p>"I see humanity in you, Enjolras," Grantaire said seriously, "You've found yourself a weakness. Something to fight for and something to die for that will actually be affected if you don't make it out of this alive. Because, I'm telling you, Apollo, that girl is something no one here has ever encountered before. And some force out there chose you to save her. And I promise you something: if you don't spend the rest of your life with her, I will never drink again. Because she has made you into a person. And that's something no one else in the universe would ever have been able to achieve. So there must be something about you both that makes you a perfect match."</p><p>With that, the drunkard left the revolutionary leader to think about what had been said, and Enjolras found himself wondering if there was more to Grantaire than he had previously thought.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Winning the War</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The second battle came just as the first one had: with the echoes of synchronised marching reaching them minutes before the guards took their positions, guns trained on the barricade.</p>
<p>"There are fewer guards than before," Courfeyrac muttered to Enjolras as they took their own places, guns poking through the gaps in the barricade, "Surely that's a good sign?"</p>
<p>Enjolras simply grimaced at him, "The only good sign I will accept at this point is them waving a white flag of surrender, mon ami," he replied, "Are the others back yet?"</p>
<p>"Not yet," Courfeyrac replied, glancing over his shoulder as the remaining revolutionaries settled into their battle stations, "They've been gone for hours, though, surely they won't be long…"</p>
<p>"We'll have to make do without them," Enjolras muttered, "If the guard fires, we fire. We got lucky before – we cannot let them believe that they have the upper hand."</p>
<p>"It's a good job we managed to keep the ammunition dry," Courfeyrac noted, a slightly smug smile on his face, "Otherwise we'd be in real trouble…"</p>
<p>"Courf! Courf!"</p>
<p>Courfeyrac whipped around, his breath catching in his throat when he saw Gavroche running towards him.</p>
<p>"Gavroche, I told you to go!" Courfeyrac said, the pure terror he was feeling slipping into his tone.</p>
<p>Gavroche shook his head, screeching to a stop in front of the student with a massive grin on his face, "You'll never guess what I just saw!"</p>
<p>"I don't care, 'Vroche," Courfeyrac said, "You need to go, <em>now</em>, the guard are right on the other side of the barricade!"</p>
<p>"Courfeyrac is right, Gavroche, you should go," Enjolras said softly, "This is no place for you right now. Éponine would kill us all herself if she knew you were here…"</p>
<p>"Just listen!" Gavroche said stubbornly, still grinning from ear to ear, "There are barricades all across Paris! 'Ferre and Marius are on their way back now, I ran ahead. They've built one in the slums and another one on the road leading up to the palace. People couldn't believe it when they heard what Enjolras had done to save Éponine and when 'Ferre and Marius told them about Enjolras' big speech about fighting for yourself and for what you believe in, even more people started throwing their furniture out their windows!"</p>
<p>Enjolras and Courfeyrac turned to look at each other, smiles slowly spreading across their faces.</p>
<p>"Did you hear, mes amis!" Enjolras called to the others gathered around him, no longer caring if the national guard heard him or not, "Others have joined our cause! There are barricades all over Paris!"</p>
<p>There were cheers and a rumble of excited chatter as those still gathered behind the barricade celebrated this news, the cannons and guns trained on them from the other side of the barricade almost forgotten.</p>
<p>"You at the barricade," one of the guards shouted, "Listen to this… you have no chance against the full force of the National Guard. You must surrender now or-"</p>
<p>"Or what?!" Gavroche shouted, "You've already shot at us. What else can you do?!"</p>
<p>As Courfeyrac hurried to hush Gavroche, his panic at the boy's flippancy clear on the older man's face, Enjolras couldn't help but smirk. Peering through a gap in the barricade, he could see the group they had managed to amass to face them a second time. Less than half of the men were there than before.</p>
<p>"If you are the full force of the national guard," Enjolras called out after a moment, "Then, well… I like our chances."</p>
<p>"We have an army," the guard yelled back, "A whole army at our disposal!"</p>
<p>"And we have the people of France at ours," Enjolras retorted, unable to keep the anger from his tone, "We are done with this pointless reign of the aristocracy. Why should we let such a small percentage of the population tell us how to live our lives? Why should we stand around and watch as those privileged enough to have money condemn so many to a life of poverty, of crime, of starvation?! Many of us stand here having abandoned our own families for the sickening actions they have taken against the poor of France. No more!"</p>
<p>A louder cheer erupted from those gathered with Enjolras behind the barricade, a united shout of solidarity. Enjolras opened his mouth to continue, but paused when he felt a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>He turned around to see Combeferre stood behind him, a huge grin on his face with Marius a mirror image beside him.</p>
<p>"Oh, mon ami," he murmured, accepting the weapon Courfeyrac passed him, "If only you could see Paris right now. It is all we could possibly have dreamed of and more."</p>
<p>"The people are rising, Enjolras," Marius confirmed, "No one can enter the slums without a friend on the inside. There's this incredible barricade, hundreds of people ran to help build it…"</p>
<p>Enjolras could have cried. He couldn't believe that, at last, his vision was becoming a reality.</p>
<p>"It's time to end this," he said eventually, once he was certain that the tears of joy he wanted to cry weren't going to spill over. He stepped up to the barricade, finding himself a ledge and raising his voice, "We do not wish for any more violence," he called to the guard gathered on the other side, "Enough people have died, enough have been wounded." His thoughts had barely left Éponine since returning, and part of him was terrified that he would return to find that her condition had worsened, or…</p>
<p>"You don't have a chance against the united forces of the people of Paris," Enjolras continued, "We have numbers, and weapons, and purpose. You might beat us eventually, but you will lose much in the process. We would be willing to meet, to discuss your surrender. To discuss how we are going to improve our Republic. For the good of the many, not the few."</p>
<p>There was silence, everyone waiting with bated breath.</p>
<p>"Why should we surrender?"</p>
<p>Enjolras could have shot the guard there are then, taking a moment to check his frustration before replying.</p>
<p>"Because I risked my life yesterday," he replied, "Not on the barricade, though I would be more than wiling to die upon it for the good of the people. I risked my life to save that of a girl with nothing. Because I, like everyone here, believe that your social status does not equate to your right to <em>live</em>. Who are we, who are <em>you,</em> to dictate someone else's right to survive?! We do not want to destroy the aristocracy. But if their elitist social status is the price we must pay to achieve greater equality for those living, suffering, and dying in the slums of Paris… then so be it. I carried that girl through the pouring rain because saving her was possible, which made it the <em>right</em> thing to do. No life is worth so little that we should not even try to save it."</p>
<p>There was silence again, and Enjolras felt almost guilty, using Éponine to make his point, especially with Marius and Gavroche stood just feet away.</p>
<p>There was a quiet scuffle on the other side and Enjolras' heart leapt into his throat, suddenly terrified that his monologuing had simply given the guards a chance to quietly storm the barricade. His head whipped to look at Courfeyrac when his friend gasped.</p>
<p>"Some of them are retreating," he informed them, his voice barely above a whisper, "They're just backing away."</p>
<p>Enjolras found an ammunition hole and carefully looked through it. Sure enough, the guard stood at the front of the pack was looking over his shoulder, quietly ordering men back to their positions and being ignored. Enjolras could sense the conflict in the man's head as more and more of his men disappeared, and a smile spread across his face.</p>
<p>"We are not your enemy, monsieur," he called out after a moment, "Our issue is not with the National Guard. We, like you, want to keep the peace. But for us, peace means listening to the people and acting on their grievances, not ignoring the vast majority of the population in favour of maintaining ancient aristocratic values that, frankly, should play no part in our Republic."</p>
<p>The guard muttered something under his breath that looked suspiciously like a curse, before dropping his own gun.</p>
<p>"I've been in enough battles to know when I'm beaten," the guard said, "You have my surrender. But I hope you realise, I hope you <em>all</em> realise… this is not going to be easy."</p>
<p>"Nothing in life is easy, monsieur," Enjolras replied, climbing to the top of the barricade and pulling a rolled up piece of parchment from inside his jacket, "Can I trust that you will bring an official declaration of surrender and a promise to host discussions before nightfall?"</p>
<p>The guard held up his hands, "You have my word," he said, "Your demands?"</p>
<p>Enjolras held up the scroll, throwing it down from the barricade and onto the cobbled streets below, "Not many, for now," he said, "Just a request to discuss, and debate, the state of the country with our government. A chance to show that we are not the enemy. And, of course, for you to call off the rest of your men throughout the city."</p>
<p>The guard walked forward, picking up the scroll as more of those gathered behind the barricade climbed to stand at the top, all of them bearing triumphant smiles. The guard was smiling also, though mostly in disbelief.</p>
<p>"I don't for a second think that you know what you've gotten yourselves in for," he said, looking along from one end to the other, "But I admire your courage. And I'm… interested to see how this works out."</p>
<p>Enjolras smirked back, "As are we."</p>
<p>The guard held up the scroll, "I'll return at dusk," he replied.</p>
<p>"We'll be here until then," Enjolras said. The guard nodded once, before slowly backing away, the last couple of his men following him back around the corner and out of sight.</p>
<p>The people on the barricades waited until their footsteps had faded away before a deafening cheer erupted.</p>
<p>Enjolras was stunned into silence, the reality of the situation finally sinking in.</p>
<p>"We won."</p>
<p>Combeferre clasped him on the shoulder, shaking him lightly, "We <em>won</em>, Enjolras."</p>
<p>He barely saw the light of day for the next half an hour, being crashed into embrace after embrace, an immoveable smile on his face. He didn't think he'd ever been this happy. The labours of the last few months, <em>years,</em> of his life had somehow, against all odds, come to some kind of fruition. The time of struggle, stress and panic suddenly all seemed worth it.</p>
<p>Enjolras saw a man he had never seen before embracing Marius as he looked around, the two men talking as if they were old friends.</p>
<p>"Who's that man? Over there, with Marius," Enjolras asked Courfeyrac. Though he certainly didn't pretend to know every person in Paris, he liked to think that he at least knew of the people Marius called friends.</p>
<p>Courfeyrac breathed a laugh, "That," he said, "Is a gentleman who calls himself Monsieur Fauchelevant. He is the father of Marius' beau."</p>
<p>Enjolras raised his eyebrows, "And he's… on the barricade?"</p>
<p>"Well, you were there when Éponine gave Marius the letter from Cosette, that's the girl's name," Courfeyrac said, "It turns out, Éponine had given Marius' letter to the monsieur to pass on. When he read how much Marius loved the girl, he put on a guard's uniform and came straight here."</p>
<p>Enjolras couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Why do I suddenly feel as if I'm in a romance novel?" he muttered.</p>
<p>"Laugh all you want, mon ami, at least the man is a sharp shooter. He caught a couple of snipers out during the first battle."</p>
<p>Enjolras looked impressed, reconsidering his view, "Then we are in his debt," he said, "Perhaps we should care a little more about Marius' love life," he added with a smirk.</p>
<p>Courfeyrac scoffed, "I wouldn't go that far."</p>
<p>Though he had readily been swept up with the celebratory atmosphere that had settled on the barricade, it eventually occurred to Enjolras that, whilst there was plenty to be celebrated, the guard had been right: their fight was far from over.</p>
<p>"Listen, everyone," he shouted, climbing atop the nearest box that looked sturdy enough to hold his weight, "I am not denying that this is… a huge victory, and we have much to celebrate. But this is not the end. This is only the beginning. So, if I could have some volunteers, to go to the other barricades, to spread the word of the deal we have made thus far with the National Guard…"</p>
<p>"I'll go," Combeferre offered immediately.</p>
<p>"As will I," Courfeyrac agreed.</p>
<p>"I can get some of the street kids to help!" Gavroche added.</p>
<p>A few more people offered to go out and Enjolras eventually nodded, "Thank you," he said, "Remember to stress that We don't have a deal until the Guard return with our contract at dusk. Until we receive that confirmation, the barricades remain. We have fought to make our demands. We must now follow through and ensure they are met. But… make sure they know this is a win. We must simply stand our ground long enough to show that we refuse to be taken anything but seriously."</p>
<p>The men who had volunteered all nodded, before moving to leave the barricade, scouting cautiously outside before making their way to spread the word.</p>
<p>Grantaire offered Enjolras a hand, and the man took it, jumping down from his makeshift podium. Grantaire clasped a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Well, I have to admit," he said, "I'm surprised we made it out alive."</p>
<p>Enjolras scoffed quietly, "Will you ever have faith in me, Grantaire?"</p>
<p>Grantaire considered for a moment, "In you? Always. In France? I am yet to be convinced. But it is clear that you do not need to be reminded of the new battle you have created for yourself."</p>
<p>Enjolras breathed a laugh, "I certainly do not," he agreed, "But… thank you. I honestly expected you to hide away at home until all of this was over. I know I'm not one for sentiment, but… it matters to me that you stayed, Grantaire. I want you to know that… it mattered."</p>
<p>Grantaire didn't say anything, his hand still resting on Enjolras' shoulder. He simply stared at Enjolras for a moment, before squeezing his shoulder once and walking away.</p>
<p>He paused just in the entry to the Musain, maybe ten feet away. He turned around slowly, meeting Enjolras' eyes.</p>
<p>"Don't you think you should be thinking about the person who <em>really</em> matters in all this?"</p>
<p>Enjolras frowned for a second, until his meaning sunk in.</p>
<p>
  <em>Éponine.</em>
</p>
<p>"Christ," Enjolras muttered, looking wildly around, his eyes finally settling on Marius again. He was still stood with the man Courfeyrac had identified as Fauchelevant, and Enjolras wasted no time in interrupting their conversation.</p>
<p>"Marius- sorry, monsieur, I understand that we are in your debt for your help last night," he quickly interrupted himself to talk to the older man, "But… Marius, I need to go, I have to-"</p>
<p>"To see Éponine, yes, go," Marius said immediately, waving him off, "I'll hold the fort."</p>
<p>Enjolras nodded, "Thank you," he said, sighing in relief, "I'll be back by dusk. Try to send people out to replenish supplies if you can. We can't be certain that they're not planning on giving us a false sense of security and then ambushing us again. Be ready for anything."</p>
<p>And with that, he sprinted from the barricade, ignoring his own advice and not even checking for an ambush on the other side, leaving all thoughts of success, rebellion and France behind him.</p>
<p>All that mattered now, now that the fighting was done… was that Éponine had made it out the other side with the rest of them. And Enjolras wasn't sure what he would do if she hadn't.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Road to Recovery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Éponine had heard nothing from the barricades since she had woken just before dawn.</p><p>Well… no words, at least. She wasn’t sure there was a part of Paris where you <em>couldn’t</em> hear the gunshots.</p><p>The doctors and nurses insisted that she had to rest. She didn’t have the energy to argue with them, but the thought of Enjolras, Marius, and the students she had come to call friends risking their lives, some of them potentially dead, kept her from sleeping.</p><p>After a few hours, she simply sat up in her bed, the wound on her stomach throbbing in time with her panicked heartbeat, counting down the seconds until Enjolras either returned, or she received news that he would not… would <em>never</em> be returning.</p><p>When the shooting stopped, she wasn’t sure what to think. The rebellion had always been idealistic, if she was honest, not that she would ever have said such a thing to Enjolras. He had all the means and the determination to make it work, but… she knew first-hand the strength of the National Guard. It could easily go either way, and the not knowing was driving her slowly insane.</p><p>So when Enjolras finally, <em>finally</em>, burst through the doors, his red coat covered in gunpowder… her heart dropped into her stomach. Because not only was Enjolras <em>alive</em>, but he was <em>here</em>, which surely could only mean…</p><p>“You… you <em>won</em>?”</p><p>Enjolras crossed the room, crouching beside her bed, “Éponine…” he said, his eyes bright with a kind of happiness she had never seen from him, even in the depths of his most passionate speeches, “<em>We</em> won.”</p><p>Before either of them even realised what was happening, Éponine was grabbing Enjolras' face with her hands and kissing him like it was the last thing she would ever do.</p><p>Enjolras didn’t move for a moment, his eyes wide with shock. But Éponine was like a tornado, a wild, unstoppable force, and he was quickly pulled in, happily deciding that, after all of the morning’s success… he would be more than pleased if this was the last thing <em>he</em> ever did.</p><p>When they broke apart, tears were forming in Éponine's eyes, "When they said that you'd gone back to the barricade... I didn't think that you'd come back. That night, with the rain, and nowhere to keep the gunpowder, I thought you wouldn't have any weapons and you'd all just, just..." she sobbed and a nurse on the other side of the room glared at Enjolras for upsetting her patient. He brushed a tear from her cheek, completely clueless as to what to do in the situation he was in. Letting his relief that she was alive take over, he wrapped his arms around her, careful to avoid her now healing wound, letting her sob into his shoulder.</p><p>"Ev-Everyone else," she choked out, "Are, are they..."</p><p>"They're all alive," Enjolras promised her, "Or, they were when I left. Goodness knows what trouble they'll get themselves into, they had sat out in the rain to keep the gunpowder dry inside when I got back after bringing you here. Marius is holding down the fort, we’re just waiting for the government officials to sign our contract and agree to meet with us. Courfeyrac, Combeferre and some of the others are spreading the word to the other barricades… Oh Éponine, I wish I could have seen them, apparently Paris is a sight to behold. The people truly rose, last night. And… and it’s all thanks to you.”</p><p>Éponine pulled away slightly, wincing as she turned to look at him and aggravated her wound in the process, “Me?” she asked, “What… I wasn’t even there.”</p><p>Enjolras shook his head, “You… God, I don’t want to say that you changed me, that sounds too much like a line from a romance novel, but… I don’t know how to explain it. I thought I knew my cause, I thought I <em>knew</em> what I was fighting for. And then I met you, <em>truly</em> met you, and you were risking your life so that others might have the right to live theirs the way they wish, it… it drove that cause home in a way I don’t think anything ever has before. You made it <em>real</em> for me, Éponine. And I think that helped me make others realise what we were really fighting for.”</p><p>Éponine stared at him for a moment, “I… I never intended to do any of that,” she admitted, “I was only really there for Marius. He was the reason I got shot, I… I was protecting him.” She pulled away from him, burying her face in her hands, “You probably hate me, now, don’t you?” she muttered from behind them.</p><p>Enjolras reached out, pulling one of her hands away and squeezing it gently, “Éponine,” he murmured, “I don’t think I could ever hate you after what you’ve done for me. Whether you intended to or not, you changed the way I saw things. And the fact that you were doing it for Marius only affirms that! You were there to fight for how <em>you</em> wanted to live <em>your</em> life. That’s the <em>point</em>, of all of this. No one’s life should be dictated by their social class, especially not who or what they love.”</p><p>Éponine blushed slightly, “Well, I’m not so sure about love,” she admitted, “It’s clear to me now that Cosette has well and truly taken Marius’ heart. I think, especially given my current circumstances… it is probably best if I let him go. For everyone’s sakes.”</p><p>Enjolras couldn’t help the slight flutter in his stomach at her words; his heart had dropped slightly when she had confessed that her feelings for Marius had brought her to the barricade, and he had forced himself to put her kiss down to shock and a panic-driven need for comfort. But now…</p><p>He wrapped his arm around her again, and she happily settled her head against his shoulder.</p><p>“Thank you, Éponine,” he murmured, “For helping me see what I was missing. For ensuring our success.”</p><p>"Thank you for saving me," she whispered, her hand gripping the front of his jacket as if he would vanish if she let go. It unnerved her now, how close her obsession with Marius had brought her to death. She dreaded to think what could have happened if she continued to fantasise about a life with him, especially now that Cosette was in the picture.</p><p>“I would do it all again,” Enjolras said, his chin resting on her head.</p><p>And with that, the two fell into silence, happy to at last be in each other's company. Happy to at last be at peace in a world slightly closer to one that they wanted to live in.</p><hr/><p>Enjolras returned to the barricade mid-afternoon, finding that Marius had indeed found a way to replenish their stock of gunpowder, along with sourcing more food and water. Enjolras also finally had the time to properly meet Monsieur Fauchelevant, who, he was informed by Marius, had shot down two snipers the previous night when he had been absent with Éponine.</p><p>“Then we truly are in your debt, monsieur,” Enjolras said, “Tell me… what can I do to repay you?”</p><p>“You owe me nothing, monsieur,” Fauchelevant said, resting a hand on Enjolras’ shoulder, “Truly. It is enough for me that young Marius here made it out alive. Goodness knows how my daughter would have taken it if he hadn’t…”</p><p>“No, monsieur, I insist,”  Enjolras said, “Surely there must be something?”</p><p>“I… well, now that you mention it,” Fauchelevent said thoughtfully, “Marius says you have a prisoner? An inspector who infiltrated your ranks?”</p><p>Enjolras’ look darkened; he’d all but forgotten about the man who had almost caused their downfall, but was suddenly furious again, “Yes, monsieur. Still tied up, as far as I’m aware.”</p><p>Marius nodded, “Gavroche has been keeping an eye on him,” he said, smiling slightly, “He likes to feel involved.”</p><p>Enjolras scoffed, “Gavroche is more involved than half the men here,” he said wryly, “But, yes, monsieur, it appears we still have a prisoner in our custody. Why do you ask?”</p><p>Fauchelevent shrugged, “If it is the man I believe it is, then we have… history,” he said, not offering any further information, “I would simply ask that you let me deal with him.”</p><p>Enjolras considered this, “In return for your service? I think that a more than reasonable price, monsieur. Marius will show you to him – the man is yours.”</p><p>Several hours later, dusk drawing in at a pace proportionate to Enjolras’ growing level of panic, there was a shout from the other side of the barricade.</p><p>Two members of the National Guard, escorting a representative from the French Parliament, had returned the scroll Enjolras had thrown over the barricade that morning. It had been signed and dated by one of the highest ranking officials in government, and Enjolras had stopped breathing for a solid thirty seconds as he read and reread the contract to ensure nothing had been amended or added.</p><p>The government official had said that someone would be in touch with Enjolras at the address he had provided. He asked that they dismantle the barricades in the meantime, and Enjolras had agreed as a gesture of goodwill once the official had given his word that no one involved would be arrested or prosecuted for their participation in the rebellion.</p><p>Word of the government’s total surrender to the people had spread like wildfire, and the barricades became hosts to copious amounts of celebration until the early hours of the next morning. Grantaire had never been so drunk, which certainly eased the awkwardness between him and Enjolras that had settled after the latter’s admission of how much Grantaire mattered to him.</p><p>As the barricades slowly came down over the following days, Enjolras had initially worried that the atmosphere would become cynical without a physical reminder of their success thus far; he was more than aware that everything now rested on the word of those they were forcing detrimental change upon. It would be easy, so easy, for the people to feel that nothing had been achieved, once the barricades were gone.</p><p>But their victory seemed to have made a lasting impression; spirits were up, people came up to him in the street to pledge their support, and even more were asking how they could get involved. Whenever Enjolras was out on the streets, helping to take down the barricades and spreading word even further of their cause, he would find himself inundated with questions and offers of assistance. The bitter part of him wondered where these people were before, whilst the logical part hurried to respond as well as he could, knowing that further support was vital if they wanted to make any real, tangible change.</p><p>Whenever Enjolras was not on the streets, he was with Éponine, keeping her distracted so that she couldn’t ruin <em>her</em> recovery before they recovered the country of France from the aristocracy.</p><p>Which was what led Enjolras, one week after their victory, to be frowning at the defiant expression on the face in front of him, "There really is no need to be so ridiculously stubborn," he said.</p><p>“I disagree,” Éponine replied, her tone infuriatingly matter-of-fact.</p><p>“I’m just offering you a place to stay,” Enjolras argued, “No more, no less. Just somewhere safe for you to recover.”</p><p>"Tough," Éponine said, crossing her arms in an act of finality, "Because I refuse to accept anything from you, least of all any kind of charity."</p><p>The doctor had said that Éponine could go home in the next few days, provided that she had somewhere safe to stay and someone to look after her; it would be another few weeks until she was completely healed. Enjolras had immediately said that she could stay with him, but the woman in question had other ideas.</p><p>Their relationship was still almost entirely undefined; Éponine had kissed him, properly kissed him, and he was certainly feeling something for her that he had never experienced before, but every time he tried to bring this up, she either changed the subject, or ignored him entirely. He didn’t even know what his feelings meant, let alone what <em>she</em> was feeling. He didn’t know if the kiss had been genuine, or just a kind of reflexive reaction given the stressful nature of the circumstances they had been in.</p><p>What he <em>did</em> know, was that if she was going to make the situation of their living arrangements difficult for him, he was going to make things difficult for <em>her</em>, too.</p><p>"You kissed me," Enjolras said, forcing the conversation back to the thing she was so unwilling to discuss.</p><p>Éponine blanched for a moment before recovering, "And that is completely irrelevant to our current conversation," she said firmly.</p><p>"On the contrary," Enjolras reasoned, "It's very much within the topic of our conversation. Now, call it a bizarre assumption, but doesn't the act of one person kissing another person usually convey a feeling of attraction?"</p><p>"Enjolras!" Éponine whined, "Why must you make this so difficult for me?!"</p><p>“Other than revenge for making things difficult for me, you mean?” he asked, his tone just slightly teasing before he became serious again, "Because I want to <em>help</em> you, Éponine!" he said sincerely, taking her hand in his and shuffling forward slightly in his chair at her bedside, "You were injured fighting for my cause, and-"</p><p>"Hold on one minute!" Éponine stopped him furiously, "It is not 'your' cause. You might have been the first of the Amis to speak of your dislike towards the oppression in this country, but you are not the only one wishing to fight to amend it. I was not fighting for your cause, Enjolras, I was fighting for Marius. Only now do I realise that not even love would have taken me to that barricade had I not believed in the reason for which it was constructed. I was injured fighting for <em>myself</em>." Enjolras gaped for a second before sighing.</p><p>"What am I going to do with you?" he questioned, moving to sit on the edge of her bed and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Despite her outburst, Éponine willingly leaned into his embrace, "I really can't have you presenting well-thought out arguments that perfectly contradict mine. You will <em>ruin</em> my reputation!"</p><p>"Since when have you been one to care about the image of anything but Patria?" Éponine teased, smiling.</p><p>"Since a certain stubborn young woman slapped some sense into me." Enjolras replied quickly.</p><p>"Touché," Éponine muttered, still smiling, "I apologise for slapping you by the way. That really was rather rude of me."</p><p>"You had just been shot," Enjolras smirked, "I think I can forgive you." She looked up from where her head was still on his shoulder, a smile of thanks so sincere on her face that Enjolras could tell in a second that what he had just said had made the world for her. Without a second thought, he pressed his lips to hers. He quickly pulled away, but was slightly startled when Éponine pulled him back.</p><p>When they did finally break apart, she spoke quietly, looking away, "The reason I didn't like to talk about me kissing you was because I wasn't sure how I felt, or if you'd feel the same," she looked back at him, a small smile forming on her face, "I've never been in a proper relationship before."</p><p>"That makes two of us," Enjolras muttered, tightening his hold around her, "I don’t know how I feel, either. I guess we'll both just have to act on instinct."</p><p>"Well, this will certainly make for an interesting relationship," Éponine said, smiling as she leaned her head on his shoulder again.</p><p>"I never agreed to a relationship," Enjolras teased. Éponine rolled her eyes at him.</p><p>"You are a difficult man to read, Monsieur," she said.</p><p>"I'll agree on one condition," Enjolras said, turning serious. Éponine pulled out of his embrace to look at him properly.</p><p>"Anything." She promised.</p><p>"You come to live with me while you recover." Éponine's face fell into a frown for the second time that day.</p><p>"You drive a hard bargain, Enjolras," she grumbled, "But I said I'd do anything. So I suppose you win this battle. But I hope you realise that I won't make it easy for you." Enjolras pulled her back, his arm wrapped around her waist.</p><p>"I wouldn't have it any other way."</p><hr/><p>"Éponine, please, for the sake of my sanity, go back to bed!" Enjolras begged exasperatedly. Éponine hadn't been lying when she said that she'd make it difficult for him; Enjolras was beginning to think that nothing short of tying her down would keep her from leaving her bed.</p><p>"I am perfectly fine," she protested, "I do not need to go back to bed. I need to get up and do something! Do you have any idea how boring it is staring at the same four walls continuously?!"</p><p>"Probably about as boring as it is to keep having this argument with you," Enjolras grumbled as Éponine grudgingly let him lead her back to her room. He pulled the covers back for her and she sat down sulkily. Despite Éponine's initial willingness to move in with Enjolras (well, the initial willingness that had occurred after she had refused for a week), she had begun to worry about her living arrangements; she said that if her father found out then he'd be in the firing line. Enjolras said that as long as she was away from her ass of a father, then he didn't care where he was.</p><p>Enjolras picked her legs up, laying them on the bed, then pulled the covers over her.</p><p>"I feel like a child," she stated grumpily.</p><p>"And I suppose that it will not be good for me to say that you are acting like one?" Enjolras looked down on her expectantly.</p><p>"It would end in my favour rather than in yours." Éponine agreed.</p><p>"Please don't get up again," Enjolras pleaded with her before making his way towards the door, "I'm in the next room if you-"</p><p>"Apollo," Éponine interrupted him. He stopped and looked round, "Will you sing for me?" Enjolras grimaced and sighed, but walked back to the bed. Éponine edged over and he sat down on the bed next to her. Éponine had only been back from the hospital for three days, but she had been driving Enjolras up the wall with worry within the first few hours. 'Two more weeks of bed rest at least' the doctor had said. Éponine disagreed, insisting that a week and a half in the hospital had been more than enough.</p><p>And so, on her first night, when Éponine had said that there was very little point in her being in bed if she couldn't sleep, Enjolras had sat with her exactly as he was now, and he had sung to her until she slept. It was now becoming a daily occurrence that baffled Enjolras slightly.</p><p>"One day I will run out of songs to sing," he commented as she ducked under his arm and leant her head on his chest. He rested his arm on her shoulder, "What will you do then?"</p><p>"Ask you to sing them all again," she said simply.</p><p>And so Enjolras sung, and Éponine smiled contentedly as his voice rang out through the otherwise empty apartment. At some point she must have fallen asleep, as the afternoon had transformed into evening and the sun had almost set when she woke.</p><p>She was alone in her room, the covers pulled up to her neck and she could hear a violin playing quietly on the other side of the closed bedroom door. Her thoughts drifted to Enjolras' earlier pleads, and so she got out of bed, ignoring his previous orders, and opened the door into the living room.</p><p>Enjolras stood by the window, his red jacket, lovingly restored to its former glory after the rebellion by a grateful lady who supported the cause, hanging on the back of a chair. He was playing a rather happy song on the violin, and now that she was closer, she could hear him humming along to the tune he was playing.</p><p>"You play the violin?" she questioned.</p><p>Enjolras didn’t jump at the sudden sound of Éponine’s voice, "I thought I told you to stay in bed," he said wearily, laying the violin and its bow on the dining table.</p><p>"You didn't answer my question,” she retorted. She approached him, kissing him lightly on the lips. He smiled; they both knew that it would only attract unwanted attention if they put on any kind of public display of affection, and neither of them, Enjolras especially, was ready for attention of that kind. Not yet anyway. Besides, they weren't even officially a couple, their relationship being one that seemed to have no set rules. But, in the sanctity of Enjolras' apartment, that wasn't a problem.</p><p>"I clearly do play the violin, dearest Éponine," he said, "And you really should be in bed."</p><p>"But I'm not," she said, smiling at him, "So I shall compromise and sit on the sofa if you make me supper." Enjolras frowned, but nodded in agreement.</p><p>"How can I say no to you, 'Ponine?" he says, stroking her face.</p><p>"You can't," she told him, kissing him again before making her way over to the sofa, "How is Marius?" she asked, "How is everyone, in fact? I feel so excluded from the outside world."</p><p>"Doctor's orders, Éponine," Enjolras said, smiling slightly, "It is only for another week and a half."</p><p>"I'm not sure 'only' can be used in that context," Éponine frowned.</p><p>"The others are fine," Enjolras told her, "Rebuilding mostly, but celebrating also. Grantaire has never been so drunk."</p><p>"Why am I not surprised?" Éponine chuckled quietly.</p><p>"We're letting him off," Enjolras smiled, "We do, after all, have something to celebrate."</p><p>"Ah, yes," Éponine smiled as she spoke, "'A New France'. Is it as good as you expected, Apollo?" Enjolras turned away from the stove, leaning on the countertop beside it to face Éponine.</p><p>"Better," he says, "So much better. All down to you. My Athena."</p><p>Éponine raised her eyebrows at the new nickname, “Athena?”</p><p>“The goddess of wisdom and war,” Enjolras replied, “I think it’s rather fitting.”</p><p>Éponine laughed quietly, “Well, I suppose it’ll do,” she said, her eyes glinting with mischief, “Though I’m sure you would have managed without me.”</p><p>Her tone was joking, but neither of them needed reminding that if Enjolras hadn’t been the one to find her, they probably wouldn’t have been given the chance to achieve the new world she had helped create.</p><p>“I’m not sure we could have,” Enjolras said eventually, “You really have changed me, Éponine.”</p><p>"So you keep saying," Éponine replied, "So everyone keeps saying in fact. Combeferre and Joly did not hesitate to tell me of your change of character at the barricade, Enjolras, and insisted that it was down to me. I thought they were just teasing."</p><p>"Did I not tell you all of that myself?" Enjolras asked, “I thought I made it clear how big a role you played.”</p><p>"I…" Éponine struggled to find the words, "I find that hard to believe."</p><p>"Is it really so unbelievable?" he asked, "You awoke something in my soul that I didn’t even know was there, that I didn’t even know I was <em>missing</em>. Without that, I doubt anyone would have risen to join us."</p><p>"You flatter me," Éponine shook her head, "But I didn't <em>do</em> anything, Enjolras." He moved to join her on the sofa, and Éponine shuffled closer to him.</p><p>"You underestimate your ability to make people like you, Athena," he murmured, stroking her hair, "You did what I, what the Amis as a collective, could <em>never</em> have done. You made it <em>real</em>, for everyone. And you really did change something in me, ‘Ponine. You’ve made me feel things I’ve never felt before. God knows what I’d have done if I’d lost you."</p><p>She reached up and took his hand away from her hair, interlacing their fingers as the man next to her looked down.</p><p>"It is very unlike you to be so very sentimental," she said teasingly. That earned her a small smile, "You saved my life, it should be I who is worried about losing you, not vice versa."</p><p>"So you are willing to lose me then?" he asked, though his voice was also teasing.</p><p>Éponine punched him gently, "You know that I'd rather die than lose you, Apollo," she said dramatically, rolling her eyes. She squeezed his hand, comforting him in a way, reassuring him that she was still with him and would stay that way, "Now, I am sitting on the sofa. Go and hold up your end of the bargain, monsieur. I am starving and supper won't cook itself."</p><p>So the two enjoyed a home-cooked supper together, and Enjolras sung Éponine to sleep once more. But, this time, he could not bring himself to leave her sleeping alone in her room, and so he slept next to her, her under the covers and him on top, his arm still wrapped around her, her head on his chest, the last words of his song still echoing in their heads as they slept soundly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A Long, Long Road</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For those who read the original version of this fic (What If: Enjolnine), this is a brand new chapter! I felt like I needed to bridge some gaps a little bit and let relationships develop a bit more naturally so... Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Almost a month after the barricades, things seemed to be getting (vaguely) back to normal. There were no more riots in the streets, and the Amis had stopped calling for impromptu protests outside of government buildings (for now). However, there was an undeniable sense that there were things going on behind the scenes, with daily reports in the newspaper with various quotes from the students who had lead the rebellion.</p><p>Normally, the quotes came from Monsieur Enjolras himself, who had received a quite considerable spread in the paper a few days after the barricades had come down (which had apparently not been approved from the man himself, as there was something of a retraction the following day that featured the Amis’ cause exclusively with not a mention of Enjolras in sight).</p><p>Valjean, who, thanks to Javert, had started thinking of himself by this name again for the first time in several years, enjoyed reading the coverage of the barricades and their aftermath whilst eating breakfast. It had become something of a tradition, especially given that Marius’ name would often pop up in reports, much to Cosette’s delight.</p><p>However, three and a half weeks after the rebellion, Valjean read something that made his blood run cold.</p><p>His teacup clattered loudly as he dropped it back onto its saucer.</p><p>“Papa?” Cosette looked at him questioningly, “Is everything alright?”</p><p>Valjean barely heard her, rereading the same sentence in the article over and over again.</p><p><em>Inspector Javert, Inspector of the First Class under the Prefecture of the Police</em>, <em>has been found dead, his body pulled from the Seine by officers at around four o’clock in the morning on the twenty-eight June.</em></p><p>It went on for a few more paragraphs but he couldn’t force himself to move on from that single sentence.</p><p>He jumped when Cosette’s hand landed on his arm, the real world suddenly regaining its existence in his mind. He quickly folded the newspaper.</p><p>“What is it?” Cosette asked, her tone concerned. Valjean forced a smile, patting her hand wearily.</p><p>“I find the papers so full of bad news nowadays,” he commented blandly, “Tell me, my dear, what are your plans for the day?”</p><p>Cosette looked at him suspiciously, but continued eating her breakfast, “I thought I might read in the garden this morning,” she said, “Marius has lent me a book and I want t have read some before , he visits this afternoon. I thought the two of us could go for a walk after lunch, though, if you’re not too busy?”</p><p>Valjean smiled genuinely then, “That sounds wonderful.”</p><p>Cosette smiled back, and as they fell into a comfortable silence Valjean wondered how he had gotten so lucky. Then the news of Javert’s death came to the forefront of his mind; he had spared the man’s life, released him for the barricades and let him flee, giving him his <em>home address</em> so that the inspector could tie off his own loose ends, right his own wrongs. He’d waited at home for days, not daring to leave in case Javert came looking for him, ready to let the man take him, if that was what he wanted.</p><p>But he hadn’t shown. And now, Valjean was wondering if it had all been for nothing. Or worse, if it had had a part in the man’s death…</p><p>And then he reminded himself again that he had spared the man’s life. If he had come to realise anything over the many, many years of trying to become a better man… it was that choices defined an individual. What they chose to do was their decision alone, and he had chosen to spare the man’s life when he could have settled decades of conflict with a single shot or stab of a knife.</p><p><em>I showed him that I am a good man</em>, he told himself, <em>despite my flaws, I showed him that I am not the monster he believed me to be. </em></p><p>He found some peace in that, at least. His story with Javert had come to a close, even if it hadn’t happened in the way Valjean had been expecting. And, if what the rumours were suggesting was true, a whole host of new stories were about to begin…</p><hr/><p>Marius was nervous as he approached the door of 55 Rue Plumet; he kept telling himself that he shouldn’t be, that Cosette and her father had both met him already. Monsieur Fauchelevent had been nothing but encouraging when Marius had explained his feelings for Cosette in the fallout of the barricades, and the man had saved Marius’ life more than once when they were fighting against the National Guard.</p><p>But, nonetheless… it was a nerve-wracking thing, knocking on the door to a house that contained his one true love and possibly the only man that could come between them.</p><p>It was, of course, Monsieur Fauchelevent himself who answered when Marius finally found the courage to knock. He seemed to be a serious man, something about the lines on his face and the guarded look in his eyes that suggested a somewhat troubled past. Tonight, however, he was smiling as he opened the door, and Marius was put just slightly at ease.</p><p>“Marius! Come in, come in,” Fauchelevent ushered him in, “Welcome!”</p><p>“Thank you, monsieur,” Marius said, smiling cautiously, “Thank you for inviting me. I trust you are well?”</p><p>“I am,” Fauchelevent replied, gesturing for Marius to lead the way further into the house, “And yourself?”</p><p>“Very well, thank you,” Marius replied, “Things have quietened down a bit, but after all the madness of a few weeks ago, I can’t say I mind. I’m quite relishing the chance to relax a little.”</p><p>Fauchelevent gave him a knowing smile, “I’m sure there’s plenty going on behind the scenes,” he said, “The man in charge of your group, Monsieur Enjolras? He does not seem the type to let things go quiet for too long.”</p><p>Marius breathed a laugh, “Then his reputation precedes him,” he said wryly, “I’m sure Enjolras is writing as many letters as he can to whoever he can, whenever Éponine isn’t distracting him.”</p><p>They reached the reception room, where Cosette was sat reading a book. She stood up when they entered, placing the book on a side table.</p><p>“Monsieur,” she said, her smile so bright Marius almost forgot to breathe. He smiled back, taking her hand and bowing slightly as he kissed the back of it.</p><p>“Mademoiselle,” he replied, straightening up again.</p><p>“Marius has just been updating me on the aftermath of the rebellion,” Fauchelevent told his daughter.</p><p>“Everyone who was injured is recovering well, I hope?” Cosette checked with Marius, who nodded.</p><p>“Most people are back to normal, or close to it,” he confirmed, “Éponine’s recovery would be going much quicker if she would stay in bed, from what I’ve heard, but knowing how stubborn she is it won’t be long until she’s back on her feet. And as soon as that happens, I’m sure Enjolras will be launching straight into making sure the government hold true to their pledge.”</p><p>“Sorry… did you say ‘Éponine’?” Cosette asked.</p><p>Marius looked at her in confusion, “I’ve mentioned her before, have I not?”</p><p>“I… don’t think so,” Cosette replied, frowning, “She is Enjolras’ beau?”</p><p>“I wouldn’t go that far, he’s just offering her somewhere to stay whilst she’s recovering,” Marius informed her, “She’s been living in Paris for a while now. We caught each other’s eye a few years ago, her father is the worst kind of person, so I try to help her out when I can…”</p><p>“What does she look like?” Cosette asked, her tone just edging on demanding.</p><p>“Cosette,” Fauchelevent frowned at his daughter, “Why are you so interested in this girl?”</p><p>“I…” Cosette swallowed, shaking her head, “It doesn’t matter. Just… it’s stirred a memory, that’s all, hearing that name.”</p><p>Fauchelevent felt his heart drop slightly at that, knowing every name that Cosette could possibly have heard since he rescued her from the inn all those years ago.</p><p>“Shall we go through to the dining room?” he suggested, pushing down his worry, “I believe Marie has prepared us tea.”</p><p>Marius nodded and he let Cosette lead the way, though she seemed to be on a different planet as he followed her down a corridor and into the dining room.</p><p>Marius continued to make conversation with Fauchelevent as they helped themselves to tea and a number of small pastries, filling him in on the progress that had been made since the barricades. The man was impressed, and was particularly interested in Enjolras’ strategy following the rebellion.</p><p>“He sounds like a very driven young man, this Monsieur Enjolras,” Fauchelevent noted drily, “I’m sure I should count myself lucky that he and I are on the same side.”</p><p>Marius breathed a laugh, “Indeed,” he confirmed, “He scares me sometimes, his intensity is unrivalled…”</p><p>“Marius,” Cosette interrupted suddenly. Both Marius and her father turned their heads to stare at her. “Goodness, I’m sorry, were you talking?” she asked quickly.</p><p>Fauchelevent frowned in concern, “Cosette, are you feeling quite well?” he asked, “It’s not like you to forget your manners.”</p><p>“I… I’m terribly sorry, Papa, I just can’t get what Marius said before out of my head,” Cosette admitted, “This girl, Éponine, that you speak of… what is her family name?”</p><p>“Cosette, I-”</p><p>“No, no, monsieur, it’s fine,” Marius interjected before Fauchelevent could get much further, “I want Cosette to know my friends, my people, if we are to be… if we are to know each other better. And Éponine did save my life, after all. I believe she and Cosette will be firm friends when they have the chance to meet.”</p><p>Fauchelevent wanted to jump in, to try and stop his whole world unravelling around him, to laugh at the idea of Cosette being friends with the girl who had bullied her so mercilessly as a child. But he was stunned into silence, and Cosette was looking at Marius so expectantly that he couldn’t find it in him to keep the information from her.</p><p>“Thénardier, is the family name, I believe,” Marius continued, “Although they’ve been known to go by a few others, they… are not pleasant people. Éponine would have left them years ago if she’d had the chance, her father treats her so terribly…”</p><p>“Yes, I can imagine,” Cosette said, her tone suddenly cold.</p><p>Marius paused for a moment, trying to read the situation. Fauchelevent saved him from saying anything he’d regret later.</p><p>“Marius… Cosette and I are familiar with the Thénardiers,” he said carefully.</p><p>“Oh, of course!” Marius exclaimed, “The day Cosette and I met, they were trying to scam you in the marketplace!”</p><p>Fauchelevent blinked in confusion, shaking his head, “Goodness, I’d forgotten about that,” he murmured, “But, yes, you’re right. The thing is… I had met them before that. Almost a decade ago, in fact. You see… Cosette is not my biological daughter. Though I of course love her as if she were… her mother asked me to find her and take her in nine years ago. At the time, Cosette was in the Thénardiers’ custody.”</p><p>Marius looked between Cosette and her father, confused, “So… so you would know Éponine, then?” he asked Cosette carefully.</p><p>“’Know’ is perhaps not the word I would use,” Cosette replied. Marius had seen Cosette as the sun, and whilst the brightness was still there, he would perhaps liken her more to the freezing light in the depths of winter now than the warm, summer glow he had seen before.</p><p>“Cosette was not treated particularly well at the inn,” Fauchelevent continued, “It took time for her to feel safe, once I’d taken her away.”</p><p>Marius looked to Cosette, his concern showing evidently on his face, “Goodness, I had no idea,” he said, “That must have been terrible. Éponine never said…”</p><p>“She probably doesn’t even remember me,” Cosette said, her tone resigned, “I was barely anything to her, really. She only ever paid attention to me when she wanted her mother to remind her of how pretty she was…”</p><p>“Cosette,” her father interjected, “That was a great many years ago. Much has changed in our lives since then. Perhaps it is the same for her.”</p><p>“She did take a letter for me,” Marius said, “From the barricades, I gave it to her to keep her out of trouble, not that that did any good… I gave her that letter to bring to you, Cosette.”</p><p>Fauchelevent’s eyebrows shot up, “That was Éponine?” he checked, “I met her at the gate. I told her to be careful on the streets…”</p><p>Marius smiled, just slightly, “It seems our efforts went somewhat to waste, monsieur,” he said wryly, “We should be thankful that she survived, the odds were not in her favour…”</p><p>“So… she is your friend, then?” Cosette asked.</p><p>“I… well, yes,” Marius replied, “Although it appears I do not know her as well as I thought I did.”</p><p>“Well, perhaps it would be good for Cosette to see her again,” Fauchelevent reasoned, “It has been so many years. And it appears Éponine cares for you dearly, Marius, to risk her life to bring Cosette that letter.”</p><p>“Or perhaps she was looking for some kind of payment,” Cosette muttered, stirring her tea slightly more aggressively than necessary, “That seems to be her family’s style…”</p><p>Marius couldn’t deny that, and was baffled that Éponine had apparently lived such a different life before he knew her that she had never said a thing about. He was suddenly questioning everything he knew about her, wondering what else she hadn’t told him.</p><p>“Anyway,” Fauchelevent said after an awkward moment of silence, “Perhaps we should talk about something else. Marius, you said you no longer speak to your family?”</p><p>Marius allowed himself to be pulled into a different conversation, explaining about his tense familial relations whilst still keeping one eye on Cosette. She seemed to slowly return to her usual self as he spoke, but he could sense that she still wasn’t really paying full attention to their discussions.</p><p>Fauchelevent gave them a few blissful moments alone when he offered to get Marius’ jacket for him as he was getting ready to leave.</p><p>“Cosette… I hope me knowing Éponine isn’t going to cause any problems between us,” he said, a hint of desperation in his tone, “Truly, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”</p><p>“No, no, it’s… I’m alright,” she assured him, taking his hands and squeezing them gently, “It was just… unexpected, is all. I don’t often think about my childhood, and… well. There aren’t many happy memories before Papa. She was so cruel to me as a child, I… I’m not even sure I would want to see her again. But that doesn’t have anything to do with what we have between you and me.”</p><p>Marius frowned slightly, “Well… she is my friend, Cosette,” he said cautiously, “Especially now, after everything that happened with the rebellion…”</p><p>Cosette’s face hardened slightly again, and Marius scrambled to correct himself.</p><p>“But of course, I’m not expecting you to just forgive her,” he said quickly, “I myself am feeling quite annoyed that she never told me about her past. I would never expect you to…”</p><p>“Here we are, Marius,” Fauchelevent turned into the hall, Marius’ jacket in hand. He paused, seeing Cosette and Marius still holding hands and looking at each other intently, “Ah. Am I… interrupting?”</p><p>“No, no, Papa,” Cosette said, dropping Marius’ hands immediately, “We were just saying that it seems to be a very small world.”</p><p>Marius’ face dropped slightly at that, “Indeed we were,” he agreed after a moment, though he sounded significantly more half-hearted.</p><p>Fauchelevent could not help but agree, Javert popping into his head before he could stop the thought.</p><p>“Indeed,” he echoed, handing Marius his coat before wrapping Cosette in a one-armed hug, “And in such small worlds, with all the many times our paths are destined to cross with others… we can choose to offer people kindness, regardless of our pasts. Sometimes… it just takes a second chance.”</p><p>Cosette didn’t respond, looking at her shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.</p><p>“Thank you for having me, monsieur, mademoiselle,” Marius said instead of responding.</p><p>He left the Fauchelevents’ house feeling hopelessly conflicted. He knew that he would do anything for Cosette, now that he had the chance to. But he had never envisioned that doing so would potentially lose him one of his closest friends.</p><p>He was angry at Cosette for not wanting to give Éponine a second chance outright, and angry at Éponine for not telling him about her past so that he’d at least had some warning. He was angry at himself for brining Éponine up in the first place. And, most of all, he was confused about what on earth he was supposed to do next.</p><hr/><p>Enjolras and Éponine had found something of a routine after three weeks of officially living together. Éponine was recovering, if slightly slower than expected, and was now much more able to move around the house of her own accord without Enjolras’ ever-concerned gaze following her. Of course, that didn’t stop Enjolras from hovering a few feet away from her at all times, but he was at least giving her the freedom to do most things for herself now.</p><p>He had started making concrete plans to continue pursuing his cause, drafting letters and documents to send to various government officials. This would take up much of his morning, occupying around eighty percent of his focus whilst the other twenty kept an eye on Éponine, who usually busied herself with reading one of Enjolras’ books or mindlessly sketching on the back of one of his discarded drafts.</p><p>At some point in the late morning, Éponine would get up and make them both tea, now that she was able to lift the pot without risking pulling out any stitches or reopening her wound. She would bring Enjolras his drink and lean casually next to him, a hand resting on his shoulder as she asked about the progress he’d made so far. It was about as close to a real break as Éponine could get with Enjolras, making him take just a few minutes to properly acknowledge that there was a world beyond the paper in front of him, and people who wanted to know about his work.</p><p>It was during this ‘break’, that there was a knock at the door the morning after Marius had had tea with the Fauchelevents. Enjolras and Éponine had almost jumped at the sound; they were used to having visitors, but it had become an almost unspoken rule that the Amis would check in just after supper time, on their way to the Musain.</p><p>The boys had been working hard to restore the Musain to its former glory after it had been so thoroughly battered during the fights on the barricades. It said a lot, to Éponine at least, that they were all going for several hours each evening after long days of work or study, but Enjolras had rightly pointed out that the café had come to mean a lot more to them than just being somewhere to drink.</p><p>Sometimes, Enjolras would join them, usually when Éponine was getting irritated with his hovering and wanted a bit of time to herself, but usually they would just pop in for a quick catch-up before they headed back out to piece their old meeting place back together.</p><p>A visitor in the morning was practically unheard of in recent days, and neither Enjolras nor Éponine really knew how to react, which was what prompted their unexpected visitor to knock a second time.</p><p>“I’ll get it,” Enjolras murmured, patting the hand that Éponine had rested on his shoulder as he stood up. He could sense her sudden nerves; she’d started confiding in him more and more over the last few weeks, telling him about her family and her childhood. He was starting to understand why she as so deathly afraid of her father, and why she was so desperate to keep Enjolras well away from her family’s business.</p><p>“What if it’s-”</p><p>“It won’t be,” Enjolras assured her, “I doubt he would knock. And if it <em>is</em>… I’ll tell your father the exact chances of him taking you anywhere.”</p><p>Éponine bit her lip, edging slightly closer to the kitchen, out of direct line of sight from their front door. Enjolras offered her a reassuring smile as whoever was on the other side knocked a third time, clearly growing more insistent.</p><p>Enjolras flung the door open, ready to punch whoever was on the other side square in the face and mentally recounting exactly where he had hidden all of his weapons after the barricades. He managed to stop himself from battering Marius just in time, pausing with his fist half-flung.</p><p>“Marius,” he snapped after a moment, dropping his hand back to his side, “What are you doing here? You scared Éponine half to death!”</p><p>Marius didn’t look like he was quite on the same planet; he didn’t even respond to Enjolras, simply edging past him into the apartment.</p><p>Éponine walked towards the two men, her arms firmly crossed to hide her still-shaking hands.</p><p>“Marius… has something happened?” she checked, seeing the dazed look on her friend’s face, “You look exhausted…”</p><p>“No, I… well,” he shook his head, running a hand over his face, “You didn’t tell me.”</p><p>Éponine frowned, “Tell you what?”</p><p>“You… I thought we were friends,” Marius continued, starting to pace the length of their living room, “I thought I <em>knew</em> you.”</p><p>“Marius, for goodness sake, please start saying something that makes sense,” Enjolras said, moving to stand next to Éponine.</p><p>“You… you knew who Cosette was,” Marius said, stopping and looking at Éponine with an almost desperate look on his face, “I thought you had just heard about her in passing, like you always do, you always say that you know your way around and you seem to know everything about everyone, but… that’s not how you knew her, is it?”</p><p>Enjolras glanced at Éponine, who had suddenly gone just slightly pale.</p><p>“Éponine?” he said gently, “Do you… want to sit down?”</p><p>His voice seemed to snap her back slightly, and she shook her head sharply, “No, no, I’m… I’m fine,” she said, “Marius, you have to understand… that was a very long time ago.”</p><p>Marius scoffed, “So it is true,” he muttered, “I thought, just perhaps, maybe Cosette had the wrong Éponine. But… it really is you. Why didn’t you <em>say</em> anything?!”</p><p>“What would it have mattered?!” Éponine demanded, “You were in love with her, Marius. <em>Are</em> in love with her. I wanted you to be happy. I… I didn’t even realise it was her at first. And when I did… I almost didn’t take you to her.  But I did, because even if she and I have… history, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a chance with her. Cosette and I… that doesn’t matter. <em>You</em> and Cosette is what matters, if that’s what’s going to make you happy.”</p><p>“How can you say that?!” Marius said, “How can you say that you don’t matter? Éponine, you are one of my closest friends. I… if Cosette and I are going to be together, I can’t just never see you again.”</p><p>Éponine breathed a disbelieving sigh, “Well, then you’ve certainly changed your tune,” she muttered.</p><p>“Can someone please explain to me what I’m missing here?” Enjolras interjected quickly, “I’m afraid I’m only half following.”</p><p>Éponine sighed again, “Maybe we should sit down,” she said reservedly, “I… I should probably start at the beginning. For both of you,” she added, looking to Marius, “If Cosette has given her side… I suppose I should give mine as well.”</p><p>They moved into the living room, and Éponine had never seen anyone look so uncomfortable sat on a couch as Marius did right then. She picked up her tea from the dining table again, taking another sip before speaking.</p><p>“When I was a child, a <em>young</em> child, might I add… Cosette lived with my family at the inn we owned in Montfermeil. She… was not treated well. Her mother sent my parents money to go towards Cosette’s wellbeing, and they used it for their own gain, using Cosette as a… a slave. She would clean the tables in the inn, sweep the floors, fetch water from the well… they made her sleep in the cellar. And because I was young, and didn’t know any better, I saw them treating her like the scum of the earth, and… and I did too. I teased her mercilessly, made her look at all the things my parents would buy me that she couldn’t have, I… gosh, I said some awful things about her mother, just repeating what I heard my parents say, but still…”</p><p>She shook her head, burying her face in her hands for a moment. Neither Enjolras, nor Marius, had anything to say.</p><p>“I’m not excusing my behaviour,” Éponine said eventually, “I… it was awful of me, I know it was. I dread to think of how it’s affected her over the years. But… I certainly got what I deserved. She got rescued by some rich man, and I… well. You know where I ended up.”</p><p>Enjolras desperately wanted to reach out and take one of Éponine’s hands, to reassure her that he was there and on her side, but they hadn’t really given much thought to labelling their relationship and he didn’t want to do anything suggestive in front of Marius just in case Éponine disapproved. He settled instead for trying to meet her eyes, to try and convey the feeling telepathically instead, but she wasn’t looking at him, focusing entirely on Marius.</p><p>“Marius, please say something,” Éponine pleaded after a moment, “I should never have treated her like that, I know that now. And maybe I should have told you how I knew her, but… you’re one of my closest friends too. Back before the barricades, you were probably my <em>only</em> real friend. I didn’t want to tell you about what an awful person I was and risk you never wanting to speak to me again.”</p><p>Marius shook his head, “I… I don’t know what to say.”</p><p>Enjolras frowned suddenly, “Hold on,” he said, “Éponine, you said you worked out that you knew Cosette from your past and you took Marius to her anyway?”</p><p>Éponine nodded, “Of course. Just because I hated her… that didn’t stop him from loving her.”</p><p>“And that was… that was right before the barricades, was it not?”</p><p>Éponine’s eyes widened slightly as she understood what Enjolras was getting at, “You promised not to say anything,” she said warningly.</p><p>“Well, clearly, Marius needs to know,” Enjolras reasoned.</p><p>“Needs to know what?” Marius asked, looking between the two of them in bewilderment.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter, Marius-”</p><p>“It does matter, Éponine,” Enjolras interjected, “Because Marius doesn’t know how much you really risked to make sure he met Cosette, does he?”</p><p>“Éponine, what is he talking about?” Marius demanded, “What else haven’t you told me?”</p><p>“Marius, had you stuck around, you would know,” Éponine said, almost snappy but too defeated to sound too angry, “It’s just… that night, when I took you to Cosette’s house… my father showed up with his gang, right after you left. He wanted to get revenge on the monsieur, for everything that happened in the marketplace. I… I told him that if he didn’t leave, I’d scream and alert the police. They didn’t, so… I did.”</p><p>Marius suddenly looked just a bit ashamed, “’Ponine, your father…”</p><p>“Hit me, yes, what’s new?” Éponine said dismissively, “Which is why, it doesn’t matter, like I said…”</p><p>“Her father may well have done worse than hit her that night had I not stepped in,” Enjolras said, “So before you start judging Éponine, Marius, perhaps you’d better think about what she’s done for you, and your precious Cosette.”</p><p>Marius gaped slightly, “I… I didn’t know,” he said eventually, “’Ponine, had I known-”</p><p>“I know,” Éponine said gently, “I don’t blame you, Marius. My father always finds some reason or another to cause me pain. And if he doesn’t, one of his friends will. I just… I want you to understand that I know I can’t make up for what I did in the past. I understand that Cosette is probably furious and never ever wants to even look at me-”</p><p>“I’ll talk to her,” Marius said quickly, “I’ll explain. You’re right, Éponine, you were both only children. I’m sure she’ll understand.”</p><p>Éponine was not so sure, but she was feeling such relief that Marius didn’t seem to hate her after all that she didn’t say anything.</p><p>Enjolras coughed slightly, giving Marius a pointed look. When the man remained clueless (what had Enjolras expected, really), he clarified.</p><p>“Is there nothing else you want to say to Éponine, Marius?”</p><p>Marius frowned slightly, but Enjolras mouthed a single word at him and he launched into speaking again, “And I humbly and profusely apologise, Éponine. I should never have doubted you, or put you in a position where you could come to harm. I am forever grateful to you for bringing me to Cosette, and I will never ever question your character or your intentions again. Will… will you accept my apology?”</p><p>Éponine almost wanted to laugh; she’d never expected an apology from Marius, but once upon a time she would have sold her soul to hear him talk about her in such a caring, appreciative way.</p><p>“Of course, Marius,” she said instead, “And, please… tell Cosette how sorry I am. Or better yet, tell her that I’d like to apologise in person.”</p><p>“When she’s fully recovered, that is,” Enjolras added, giving Éponine a stern look. She rolled her eyes in response.</p><p>“I will,” Marius replied, “So… we’re friends?”</p><p>Éponine breathed a laugh, “Friends,” she agreed.</p><p>Marius said his goodbyes, apologising for springing his visit on them in the middle of the day. Enjolras closed the door behind him, sighing.</p><p>“Well… I wasn’t expected <em>that</em> when we got up this morning.”</p><p>“I thought it might come at some point,” Éponine admitted, moving to place her mug in the kitchen, “I do wish he’d given us <em>some</em> warning.”</p><p>“Are you alright?” Enjolras checked, “That can’t have been easy for you to talk about.”</p><p>Éponine shrugged a shoulder, “Talking about my childhood… it’s no worse than living it. I’ve never known what it was like to live in a house where someone isn’t being belittled or… hurt, I suppose. When I was a young child, it was directed towards Cosette, and when I was older it was directed towards me, or Gavroche, or Azelma… my parents really weren’t picky.”</p><p>Enjolras rested his hands on her shoulders, letting them slide down her arms, “I’m sorry,” he murmured, “That… that you had to live like that. I’m sorry you haven’t had a better life.”</p><p>Éponine smiled, “If I’d had a better life, we might never have met,” she reasoned quietly, resting her own hands on his waist, “I’d never have known Marius. I would never have gone to the barricades, and you might not have succeeded. I never really believed it before, but… maybe everything <em>does</em> happen for a reason.”</p><p>Enjolras kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug.</p><p>“I do appreciate you, Éponine,” he said into her hair, “I hope you know that.”</p><p>Éponine snuggled into his chest, “I appreciate you too,” she replied.</p><p>It wasn’t quite ‘I love you’. But it was perhaps them starting down the road to getting there.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. A Sympathetic Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Enjolras was probably the most stubborn person Éponine had ever met.</p><p>She’d known this, of course, even before she <em>had</em> met him, but now she have genuine personal experience to confirm it.</p><p>“I’m fine, Enjolras.”</p><p>“You’ve only been out of the hospital for three weeks-”</p><p>“Yes, and I’m <em>fine</em>.”</p><p>“But the doctor said four weeks-”</p><p>“Apollo,” Éponine rested her hands on Enjolras’ arms, stopping him mid-sentence, “I have had no infection. No torn stitches. And Joly himself has assured you that I’m healing well and am almost back to normal. I really, honestly think I can manage going for tea with Cosette.”</p><p>Enjolras gaped for a moment, and Éponine nearly grinned, so used to him always having a counterargument that him <em>not</em> having one was positively comical.</p><p>“What if she tries to hit you?” Enjolras asked quickly, “Years of bottled-up rage and resentment… she could try to fight you.”</p><p>Éponine actually did laugh at that, “Next you’ll be saying she’ll try to poison me with the scones,” she teased, “Enjolras, trust me when I say that Cosette is not one to start fights. And even if she were… I’m reasonably sure I could take her, even in my current almost-healed state.”</p><p>Enjolras sighed, taking her hands from his arms and squeezing them gently, “I just wish you’d let me come with you,” he said, sensing that he was fighting a losing battle.</p><p>“This is between me and Cosette, Enj,” Éponine reminded him, “We need to come to some kind of arrangement, for Marius if not ourselves. We won’t do that with a third party present. Besides which, she hasn’t invited you for tea – showing up unannounced would be awfully impolite, don’t you think?”</p><p>There was a slight twinkly in her eye and Enjolras sighed again, allowing himself a tiny smile.</p><p>“I suppose you’re right,” he said reluctantly, “About not needing a mediator, I mean. I don’t care about the politeness part.”</p><p>“Of course you don’t,” Éponine breathed a laugh, “But, looking at their house and the way they act in public, I have a sneaking suspicion that Cosette and her father <em>do</em> care about politeness. So, I’m going to go, and be incredibly polite whilst we have tea. And I’m going to grovel and express my most sincere apologies and hope that that’s enough to not drag Marius to live in London.”</p><p>Enjolras frowned, “London?”</p><p>Éponine nodded, squeezing his hands once more before moving to find her shoes, “Do you remember, on the barricades, I gave Marius a letter from Cosette?”</p><p>“You mean the letter that made me wait when I was trying to rush you to hospital?” Enjolras asked wryly, “Yes, I remember.”</p><p>Éponine rolled her eyes at him before continuing, “Well, I may have had… just a quick glance over it before I gave it to him.”</p><p>“Of course you did,” Enjolras said, spotting one of her boots under the couch and picking it up for her, “And it said something about them going to London?”</p><p>“It said <em>she</em> was going to London,” Éponine corrected him, “She said that her father thought it was too dangerous for them in Paris, so he was taking her to London to keep her safe. Clearly something happened to change his mind, because otherwise he would never have joined you on the barricades.”</p><p>Enjolras handed her the boot in his hand and she pulled it on, spotting the other under the kitchen table as she did so.</p><p>Enjolras smiled fondly; his apartment was never particularly tidy (he was always too busy to really clean, and even if he tried he’d get distracted by an idea, or a book, or literally anything more interesting than <em>cleaning)</em>. But Éponine really seemed to spread herself out, normally without realising. In the three weeks he’d been living with her, she’d managed to make his apartment just as much her home as it was his, and Enjolras would be lying if he said he didn’t like it that way; his apartment looked like it was actually being <em>lived</em> in for once, rather than just being the place he passed out between campaigning on the streets and drafting new essays about the cause.</p><p>On her way back over, Enjolras reached for her hand, pulling her to a stop in front of him. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” he asked, looking her in the eye.</p><p>Éponine almost repeated her stock ‘I’m fine’ answer, but the sincerity and concern (and maybe something a little bit deeper?) in his eyes made her pause.</p><p>“It’s just tea, Enjolras,” she said eventually, resting her free hand on his cheek, “I’m sure I’ll by fine. But… thank you for caring.”</p><p>He smiled slightly, squeezing her hand once more and then letting go and stepping away.</p><p>“Have a nice time,” he said simply.</p><p>And to someone who had spent most of her recent life at the beck and call of men who couldn’t care less about her happiness… Éponine thought that was pretty damn close to an ‘I love you’.</p><hr/><p>She’d told Enjolras that she’d be fine, that she could manage, that it was ‘just tea’.</p><p>And yet, walking up to the Fauchelevent house, in plain sight rather than sneaking through the shadows… Éponine was starting to wish she were anywhere else.</p><p>Still, she was here for Marius (where had she heard that one before…?). At least this time she hoped there was less of a chance of her getting shot.</p><p>She didn’t allow herself a moment’s hesitation when she reached the door, her hand reaching out to knock before she was even fully in the porch. She heard the sound echo in the hallway beyond, and within a few moments a housekeeper had answered and ushered her inside.</p><p>The first thing Éponine noticed was that she had lied to her father, that night when he had wanted to ransack the place. There was plenty here that he would have wanted to steal, even if he hadn’t managed to get to Cosette.</p><p>What interested her most was that the monsieur seemed to have very little that screamed of wealth; it was nice, certainly, but the word coming to Éponine’s mind was ‘understated’. From the outside, they appeared to live a modest life, but knowing how much he had paid her parents for Cosette (and how ecstatic they’d been with that amount), the man appeared to be living well below his means. That being said, even what they <em>did</em> have seemed grand to her in comparison to her own family home, so who was she to judge?</p><p>Still, it was hard to turn off the analytical eye that she had developed over her years on the streets, and her thoughts had managed to distract her from her nerves for the time it took for the housekeeper to how her from the front door to a small reception room.</p><p>“I’ll let Mademoiselle Cosette know you’ve arrived, dear,” she said with a smile, “Please, make yourself comfortable.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Éponine replied, smiling back.</p><p>The housekeeper left her alone, and Éponine considered sitting down, but a small bookcase in the corner caught her eye. Since moving in with Enjolras, reading had become a favourite of hers (if only because it didn’t involve moving, which meant it kept Enjolras happy whilst allowing her to pass the hours while he worked).</p><p>All the books looked well-read, which made her smile; she hated seeing books on display for the sake of displaying them. If you could afford the pleasure of owning something that someone has gone to the effort to write, print, and bound, then they should actually be <em>read</em> and enjoyed, even critiqued. They were not made simply to look pretty.</p><p>“It’s not a large collection, but… I am rather proud of it.”</p><p>Éponine turned towards the voice behind her, finding Monsieur Fauchelevent in the doorway, studying her with an amused smile on his face.</p><p>Éponine suddenly realised that what she was doing probably looked like she was just being nosy, and, remembering her promise to be polite, she hurried to apologise.</p><p>“Sorry, monsieur, I didn’t mean to pry,” she said, turning away from the bookcase, “It’s just… I’ve found myself reading a lot these past few weeks. I’ve found myself looking for something new to read.”</p><p>Fauchelevent waved her apology off immediately, “No, no, pry away,” he said, “Cosette’s reading tastes have… rather diverged from mine in recent years. I’m afraid they’re not appreciated as much as I would like them to be. If there’s anything that catches your eye, please feel free to borrow it.”</p><p>Éponine was caught off-guard by his generosity, and more than that his kindness.</p><p>“Thank you, monsieur,” she said genuinely.</p><p>“I trust your recovery is going well?” Fauchelevent asked, “I hope getting here wasn’t too taxing for you.”</p><p>“I’m almost fully healed,” Éponine informed him, “And, to be perfectly honest, I was desperate to get out of the house, so the walk was just what I needed. Enjolras has been a true blessing, in more ways than one, but he has been rather stubborn about following doctor’s orders. Apparently the rebel in him only comes out when facing oppressive governmental structures.”</p><p>Fauchelevent breathed a laugh, “He certainly seemed to be a rather driven young man when I met him,” he said, “And Marius tells me that you’re more than a match for him.”</p><p>Éponine smiled slightly, “We do seem to be bringing out both the best and worst in each other.”</p><p>They fell into a few moments of silence before Fauchelevent spoke again.</p><p>“Cosette is on her way,” he assured her, “It’s my fault, I asked her to run an errand for me this morning, I believe Marius went with her. They are both still… shy, about asking to spend time together. I was happy to give them a reason, but they were slightly longer than expected.”</p><p>Éponine was surprised again, “That was very… nice of you, monsieur,” she said, “I don’t mind waiting. I think this discussion is possibly long overdue as it is.”</p><p>Fauchelevent stepped further into the room, lowering himself onto one of the sofas, “I remember you, you know,” he said, the smallest smile on his face, “You are older now, of course, but… I’ll never forget those big, inquisitive eyes.”</p><p>Said eyes widened slightly at that; Éponine had thought that she’d been well hidden that day, peering around the edge of the bar, just out of sight, to watch this strange man who had walked into the inn with a water pail in one hand and Cosette clinging to the other. Her parents certainly hadn’t noticed her, having sent her to go to bed hours before and never bothered to check to see if she had. She had watched the man approach from her bedroom window, realising the closer he got that Cosette was doing something Éponine didn’t remember ever seeing before: laughing.</p><p>“You don’t seem to have changed at all, monsieur,” she said, “In truth… when my parents tried to corner you in the marketplace, I recognised you straight away. I’m surprised it took my parents so long.”</p><p>“You strike me as a girl who sees far more than she lets on,” Fauchelevent commented wryly.</p><p>“You wouldn’t be the first to say it,” Éponine confirmed, “It has got me into my share of sticky spots over the years. Although… it’s got me out of a few as well.”</p><p>Fauchelevent nodded knowingly, and Éponine wondered what it was that made her feel so comfortable around a man that she had never met in civilised circumstances.</p><p>“I am… sorry, monsieur, about that day in the marketplace,” Éponine said after a moment, “If had known that my parents were going to target you…”</p><p>“Then I imagine you would have let them,” Fauchelevent interjected, “And so you should.”</p><p>Éponine had been about to protest but paused, gaping at his final few words.</p><p>“I’m not sure I understand,” she said admitted.</p><p>Fauchelevent gave her that smile again, one that seemed to say far more than Éponine could determine. He gestured for her to sit opposite him, an open invitation that she could refuse if she wanted. But she didn’t, and she moved to sit, albeit slightly awkwardly, on the other sofa.</p><p>“Marius explained a little, about what your father is like and how he treated you,” Fauchelevent said, “And, having dealt with the man myself, it was not difficult for me to believe. I’m <em>glad</em> you didn’t put yourself at risk that day, Éponine. I am quite capable of protecting Cosette and myself, though I am starting to feel the strain of doing so in my older years. But I am no stranger to doing what it take, <em>whatever</em> it takes, to stay alive. And that’s all you did that day as far as I am concerned.”</p><p>Éponine felt a weight lift from her shoulders that she hadn’t even realised was there, “I… thank you, monsieur,” she managed eventually, “Truly, I… I’m not sure I’m worthy of such forgiveness.”</p><p>“Oh, everyone is worthy of forgiveness, my dear,” Fauchelevent said with such conviction that Éponine daren’t argue, “Of that, I am certain. And I hope I have imparted that value upon Cosette, also.”</p><p>Éponine realised that he was trying to tell her not to worry, to trust that Cosette was not one to hold a grudge forever.</p><p>“I’m sure you have, monsieur,” Éponine replied.</p><p>There were footsteps in hall before either of them could say anything, and Cosette appeared in the doorway looking flustered, but otherwise perfectly put together.</p><p>“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said immediately, “I lost track of time. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Éponine.”</p><p>She could tell that it was more of a polite apology than anything deeper, but Éponine did her best to smile warmly as she stood up again.</p><p>“It’s… nice to see you again, Cosette.”</p><p>The slightly forced smile that Cosette gave her in response said enough about how she felt about Éponine’s statement. Perhaps she could sense that, like her own apology, it had only been said in the interest of being polite.</p><p>“Why don’t we go through to the dining room?” Cosette suggested, “Marie has prepared some tea.”</p><p>Éponine relaxed slightly at that, the meeting slowly starting to play out the way she had expected, “Tea sounds wonderful.”</p><p>“Papa, are you joining us?” Cosette asked, looking past Éponine to her father, “I did only tell Marie to prepare tea for two…”</p><p>“No, no, you go on,” Fauchelevent replied, “I was just keeping Éponine company.”</p><p>This seemed to surprise Cosette slightly, but she didn’t comment before turning back to Éponine.</p><p>“Well, then… follow me.”</p><p>Éponine trailed after Cosette, trying her hardest not to analyse every inch of the house, but finding some elements too fascinating to ignore. Like the painting on the wall that was displayed pride of place directly opposite a closed door. It wasn’t particularly good, in Éponine’s opinion, and certainly not by any artist of repute that she was familiar with.</p><p>Cosette paused when she saw Éponine looking, “That is, believe it or not, one of my greater efforts,” she admitted, slightly embarrassed, “Papa insisted on having it framed and hung across from his bedroom. He says it makes him walk into breakfast each morning with a smile on his face.”</p><p>Éponine smiled possibly her first genuine smile since she arrived at the house, “He seems to love you very much.”</p><p>Cosette nodded, “And I him,” she confirmed.</p><p>They carried on to the dining room, and Cosette made a point of serving Éponine tea and offering her a range of different cakes, pastries and sandwiches (which Éponine, of course, accepted – she had been off the streets for several weeks, but old habits certainly did die hard, and she wasn’t going to refuse food of any kind).</p><p>Cosette didn’t attempt to talk about anything beyond the spread in front of them until Éponine was halfway through her second cake.</p><p>“I know this probably isn’t going to be the most... comfortable of conversations,” she started, “But I thought, for Marius’ sake, at least, we should address the… history between us. I’m of course not expecting any kind of apology-”</p><p>“I’d like to offer you one though,” Éponine said quickly, “In fact, I insist on it. Cosette, I was terrible towards you when we were children. I was truly, horrendously awful, and I wouldn’t try to excuse my behaviour even if I did have a reasonable excuse.  All I can do is say how genuinely sorry I am for everything I did and said back then. And I can assure you that I have seen the error of my ways and I can try my best to prove to you that I can be better. I wish you and Marius nothing but happiness, and… well, I understand if you’d rather I wasn’t a part of your lives. And if that’s the case then I’ll wish you all the best, and I’ll leave you both alone.”</p><p>She’d rehearsed her apology countless times in her head since Cosette had sent her the invitation to come for tea, trying to work out a way of apologising that didn’t sound either insincere or patronising. She’d asked Enjolras’ opinion only once, when she had been fairly certain what she was going to say, and he hadn’t had any suggestions for improvement. But still, waiting to see Cosette’s reaction was nerve-wracking.</p><p>The other woman simply stared at her for a few moments, seemingly lost for words.</p><p>As the moments stretched into almost a minute, Éponine was starting to get worried.</p><p>“Please say something,” she pleaded, “Anything, really.”</p><p>Cosette shook her head, “I’m… not sure what I <em>can</em> say,” she admitted, “I… I have to be honest, Éponine I really didn’t expect you to be any different to how we were as children. In fact, I almost expected you to worse, given what Marius told me about how your life… changed.”</p><p>Éponine grimaced, “I don’t blame you,” she replied, “And, to be truthful, I think at times, I have been that person. But growing up with my family, and those they associate with… I don’t want to be like them. And I have made every conscious effort to ensure that I’m not. I know that you have no reason to trust that-”</p><p>“But I do!” Cosette told her, “Marius has said nothing but good things about you, Éponine. He’s told me about everything you’ve done for him, everything you’ve risked. I was so shocked I really didn’t believe that you were the same person as that girl in Montfermeil. But sitting here with you, hearing that apology… you’ve clearly changed. It was naïve of me to assume that you wouldn’t have, and cynical to assume that any change would have been for the worse.”</p><p>“So… do you think we could put it all behind us, then?” Éponine asked cautiously, “I meant it when I said that I’d leave you alone if you wanted. But… Marius has become a dear friend over the years. I think that friendship actually runs a lot deeper than even he is aware of, and I would like to avoid letting go of it if I can. But… he really seems to like you a lot Cosette, and I won’t stand in the way of his happiness, or yours.”</p><p>She could see that there was part of Cosette that was conflicted, part of her that wanted to tell Éponine to leave and never come back.</p><p>But then her face softened, and she smiled slightly, “My father has always told me that everyone deserves a second chance,” she said, “And he does appear to be right about most things. So… let’s pretend it never happened. It’s been almost a decade… a lot has happened in that time, and if what is being said is to be believed, then we’re entering a new France. I’d like to start in that new world without any grudges.”</p><p>Éponine breathed a sigh of relief, “I hoped you’d say that,” she said, smiling back, “I promise, Cosette, if I could take it all back then I would. But as I can’t, I’ll settle for being a much better person to you now than I was when we were children.”</p><p>“A friend,” Cosette corrected her, “Not just a person. Be the friend to me now that we could have been. Any friend of Marius’ is a friend of mine anyway, but… the only women I ever seem to speak to are our housekeeper and our cook. It would be nice to add someone else to that list, and Marius does seem to be surrounded by boys…”</p><p>“They’re not so bad,” Éponine replied, her smile turning to something of a grin as she thought of the Amis, “I think you’d love Jehan, he’s quite a… sensitive soul. He knows more poems than I do people, which is quite the achievement, and he has such an eye for landscape paintings…”</p><p>The two women sat at the dining table for another two hours, the teapot being refilled as they chatted like old friends. It said something about their commitment to leaving the past behind that they were able to do so when it was so far from the truth, but years of holding grudges faded away as Cosette shared stories of growing up in a convent (which Éponine truly believed she would have despised, even in comparison to life on the streets). In return, Éponine told Cosette about the Amis, their individual personalities and contributions to the cause, trying her hardest not to go into too much detail on Enjolras in case she gave their true relationship (whatever it was) away.</p><p>When Éponine was finally on her way out, she accepted Cosette’s hug goodbye readily, honestly feeling as though she and Cosette had made a genuine connection over their tea that had overwritten everything that had happened in their past.</p><p>Fauchelevent appeared in the hallway just as they were pulling apart again.</p><p>“A productive discussion, I assume?” he asked, a slight twinkle in his eye.</p><p>Éponine and Cosette glanced at each other, small smiles on their faces.</p><p>“The forming of a new friendship,” Cosette said eventually.</p><p>Fauchelevent looked slightly impressed, “I’m glad to hear it.”</p><p>“You were right, monsieur,” Éponine told him, “About your values. And thank you for taking the time to keep me company before. This has certainly been… an enlightening afternoon.”</p><p>Fauchelevent held up a hand, “It was my pleasure,” he replied, “Do feel free to come by if you ever want something to read, Éponine.”</p><p>Éponine smiled, “I will,” she replied, “Thank you, so much, for having me.”</p><p>“You’ll have to come again soon,” Cosette replied.</p><p>“And you should come to the Musain once the Amis have finished putting it back together,” Éponine said, “Not that Enjolras has let me out to see it, but Combeferre tells us that it’s almost as good as new. I think they’re planning a bit of a celebration when it’s all repaired, which I’m hoping Enjolras will actually allow me to attend. You should come too, and you can meet the rest of Marius’ friends.”</p><p>Cosette looked to her father, and Éponine was reminded of how vastly different their upbringings had been.</p><p>“Having fought alongside them, I’m sure I can judge at least a few of them to be worthy chaperones,” Fauchelevent replied, “And it might be nice for you to… broaden your friendship group, Cosette.”</p><p>Cosette rolled her eyes, turning back to Éponine, “He thinks I’m lonely,” she muttered to her, “But <em>that</em> is a conversation for another time…”</p><p>Éponine hid a smirk, nodding in agreement, “I’ll write once I have a date,” she said, “Thank you again, both of you.”</p><p>“Have a safe journey home,” Cosette replied, “You’re sure you don’t want me to call for our carriage?”</p><p>Éponine shook her head, glancing out at the sky, “It looks like it might rain,” she said, “I do love walking in the rain. I’ll be fine, thank you.”</p><p>And with that, she made her way home, pondering the fact that she’d been thoroughly wrong in her earlier statement. That had certainly <em>not</em> been ‘just tea’, but it hadn’t gone the way she’d been dreading it would either.</p><p>Her walk home was full of wondering how life had changed over the course of ten years. There had been so many times on the streets where Éponine had wondered if she would have been better off running away, starting somewhere afresh with nothing. She thought that some rich man might find <em>her</em> along the way, and take her to a better life like the strange old man in the inn had with Cosette.</p><p>It hadn’t taken her long to grow out of such fantasies (helped along by the frequent beatings from her father and his gang, which were almost always accompanied by comments about her worthlessness and how she would never become anything more than she was). And now, returning to Enjolras’ apartment and knowing that he would take an active interest in her afternoon, she didn’t want to be anywhere else.</p><p>She had never fantasised about living with a young revolutionary who seemed to care more about people than anything else in the world. She had never imagined how refreshing that would be, or how much she would come to hold him and his friends close to her heart. She had certainly never envisioned one day meeting Cosette again, let alone becoming friends with her rather than resenting everything she had and had become over the course of their time apart.</p><p>And, Éponine supposed, that just showed how life will never turn out the way you plan. But that certainly didn’t mean that life won’t one day turn out exactly the way you need it to be.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Revels and Revelations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Four days later, Combeferre sent word that the Musain was now fully refurbished, all of its furniture back where it should be. Éponine’s eyes had lit up when she’d read the note, already imagining how it would feel to <em>finally</em> spend an evening with all of the Amis (who really had become her friends over the last few weeks, with at least one of them coming in to check on her every evening). She found herself genuinely excited about something for the first time since being told that she could leave the hospital four weeks earlier.</p><p>That is, until Enjolras decided to rain on her parade.</p><p>“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Éponine.”</p><p>She stared at him, at a complete loss for words.</p><p>“What?” she managed eventually.</p><p>“I just think you going out and about and throwing yourself back into normal life might be a bit much for you, that’s all.”</p><p>“How is it any different to going to visit Cosette, Apollo?”</p><p>“Well, for one, there were none of the Amis present,” Enjolras replied, “And frankly that’s reason enough for you to not go whilst you’re still healing.”</p><p>Éponine settled him with a look, “Those people risked their lives for you and your cause,” she reminded him, “And you don’t trust them to be careful with me for one evening? And need I also remind you that two of them are doctors?”</p><p>“Not whilst they’re drinking, they’re not,” Enjolras muttered, “I just… it’s quite a lot, Éponine. You were exhausted when you got back from seeing Cosette…”</p><p>“Yes, but I’d walked there <em>and</em> back, and I was there for two and a half hours talking about things that I hadn’t even <em>thought</em> about in almost a decade,” Éponine said, “The Musain is five minutes’ walk from here, Enjolras. I think even I can manage that. And I know the Amis can be somewhat… enthusiastic sometimes, but…”</p><p>“Boisterous would be the word I would use,” Enjolras interjected.</p><p>“<em>But</em>,” Éponine continued, giving him a look that clearly said ‘don’t interrupt me’, “They’re our friends, Enjolras. They know how injured I was, and they know that I’m still recovering. They will be careful. There’s really no need to be quite so overprotective.”</p><p>“It’s not overprotective if I’m following doctor’s orders, Éponine,” Enjolras argued, “And the doctor at the hospital said it would take another five weeks for you to recover, which it hasn’t been yet.”</p><p>Éponine settled him with a look across the breakfast table, “Enjolras, if that was really your problem with all of this, then you wouldn’t have let me go to see Cosette at all. So what are you really worried about?”</p><p>“You wore me down about going to see Cosette,” Enjolras pointed out, “And really, I’m just worried about you.”</p><p>He stared into his tea as they both fell into silence. His refusal to meet her eyes told Éponine a lot more about how he was feeling than what he was saying; Enjolras was never one to avoid eye contact during any kind of confrontation, he always made efforts to ensure that his opponent knew exactly how serious he was.</p><p>“Is it… is it about us?” Éponine asked eventually, “You’re worried one of them might work it out?”</p><p>Enjolras sighed, and Éponine knew she’d hit the nail on the head.</p><p>“It’s not that I don’t want them to know,” he said after a moment, finally looking back up at her, “I just feel like the last few weeks have gone so well. I’ve never felt the way I do with you about another person before. I don’t want to jinx it, or… let other people get in the way.”</p><p>Éponine smiled, reaching out and taking one of his hands, “Enj… I feel the same. <em>Exactly</em> the same. This is still new, and we don’t even know what it is yet… But most of the Amis have seen us together already, and no one has noticed anything. So there’s nothing stopping us going to the Musain together, as friends, and just not telling them that there’s a possibility that we might be more than that.”</p><p>Enjolras grimaced, “You think they’ll believe that we’re just friends?”</p><p>“They have no reason not to,” Éponine reminded him, “You let me stay here whilst I’m recovering out of the goodness of your own heart. As far as they’re concerned, that’s the start and end of it.”</p><p>“Grantaire suspects, I think,” Enjolras admitted, “That night on the barricade, when I made it back… I was sat on watch, and he came up and joined me, and… he said that I was the reason he was there. And then he said that he believed in the cause even more now that <em>I</em> was there for a person too. He saw right through me, Éponine. And that was before we lived together for a month.”</p><p>“Well, luckily for us, Grantaire isn’t considered a particularly reputable source of information,” Éponine said, “Especially not when consuming alcohol. Honestly, Enj, I don’t think anyone will say anything. And, more than that… if you keep me cooped up inside for much longer, I might have to kill you.”</p><p>Enjolras breathed a laugh, “Alright, alright,” he said, “We’ll go. But only if you promise to take it easy. I do actually care about your wellbeing.”</p><p>“I’ll agree to those terms,” Éponine replied, “<em>If</em>… you try and have some fun. You’ve been working so hard over the last few weeks, Enjolras. Just… maybe bump the cause <em>slightly</em> further down your list of priorities for one night?”</p><p>Enjolras grimaced, “I may have to see what replies I receive before then,” he said, “If they don’t suggest us meeting before next March, I may well have to spend my evening drafting another letter…”</p><p>He looked slightly exhausted at the thought; between keeping an eye on Éponine (a full-time job in and of itself) and sending letter after letter to the government requesting that they pick a date and time for their meeting (and being continually pushed back and encouraged to put his demands in a letter instead), he was certainly kept busy at all times thinking about either one thing or the other.</p><p>Éponine was unavoidably, given their living arrangements and the fact that she had spent too many years eavesdropping on people to stop now, kept privy to the issues Enjolras was having getting the government to uphold their end of the bargain.</p><p>“I don’t know why you’re surprised, Enjolras,” she said, “You forced them into a rather unsavoury position with the rebellion. You did a good job of embarrassing them. And scaring them, probably. The National Guard is hardly supposed to be so weak that a group of students could bring it down.”</p><p>“Well, if they think I won’t do the whole thing again, then they’ve got another thing coming,” he had muttered, picking up his quill to start penning yet another strongly-worded letter.</p><p>“Enj,” Éponine said gently, resting a hand over his and making him pause before the quill touched the page. “Can you start another fight with the aristocracy tomorrow? I really do think you could use a proper break. Why don’t we go for a walk? And then we can come back for some supper and spend a whole evening with our friends for the first time since you achieved the impossible.”</p><p>Enjolras met her eyes, seeing her desperation; he knew that the only reason she’d stayed inside and rested over the past few weeks was for him. He had absolutely no doubt that she could have left the apartment and been halfway across Paris before he noticed had she wanted to, even with a still-healing gunshot wound.</p><p>He also knew that if she hadn’t been there, he would have become consumed by the fact that he hadn’t received a proper response from the government yet, and probably would have done something significantly more drastic than sending them a letter by this point had she not been taking up at least fifty percent of his attention at all times acting as the voice of reason.</p><p>They had both played their part in the keeping the other safe and sane over the past few weeks. Enjolras supposed he owed Éponine at least something for that.</p><p>“Alright,” he replied, “I’ll leave it until tomorrow. I suppose sitting in waiting for a response isn’t the most productive use of my time.”</p><p>Éponine raised her eyebrows at him, smirking slightly, “Your new France does not seem to be living up to your expectations, Apollo.”</p><p>Enjolras scoffed, “My dear Athena, we are still very much in the old France,” he replied wryly, picking up his coat from the back of the chair as he stood up, “My expectations are far from being met, as of yet.” He shrugged the jacket on and offering his arm to Éponine “Come on then, mademoiselle. I will humour you for one day, and go for a walk.”</p><p>Éponine grinned widely as she hooked her arm through his, “Well, this is a first.”</p><p>Enjolras shrugged a shoulder, “Well, hopefully this will tire you out enough to keep you from wanting to go to the Musain tonight…”</p><p>Éponine gasped indignantly, elbowing him in the side as they made their way out of his (<em>their</em>, it was definitely theirs by this point) apartment.</p><p>“That won’t work, Apollo,” she told him, “I have been inside for weeks, permitted one singular excursion. Rest assured, that I will be, safely, partying the night away, whether you’re willing to join me or not.”</p><p>Enjolras smirked, patting her arm, “We shall see…”</p><hr/><p>On this occasion, Éponine had ultimately won out, wide awake as the evening approached and so excited about going out that she could barely sit still during supper.</p><p>When the clock hit seven, Enjolras sighed but didn’t argue as Éponine pulled on her boots and her shawl, waiting for him impatiently by the door. She’d successfully distracted him all afternoon, inviting him to help her make lunch and then asking him to read aloud to her, avoiding any and all mention of government officials or revolutions.</p><p>She practically skipped the whole way to the Musain, Enjolras trailing along just behind her, unable to hide a smile at her excitement.</p><p>Éponine entered the Café Musain to cheers from her friends, catching her entirely off-guard. Courfeyrac wrapped her in a hug that lifted her off her feet, and she had to remind him before Enjolras bit his head off that, whilst she was well enough to leave her bed, she wasn’t <em>quite</em> recovered.</p><p>“Ow, ow, ow, Courf,” she said, “Not so tight!”</p><p>Courfeyrac immediately let go, “Sorry,” he said quickly, “My bad. It’s just good to have you back in the real world, ‘Ponine.”</p><p>Éponine had been shocked to hear over the previous few weeks of the impression she had made on the Amis during the months of planning the rebellion. She had tried so very hard to go unnoticed, learning about the men from afar and trying to interact with them as little as possible. Her main motivation for going to the meetings had been to be with Marius. Little did she know at the time that she was making quite an impression as ‘Marius’ shadow’ (a name that had earnt Courfeyrac a solid punch when she’d heard it).</p><p>“Well, it’s good to be back,” Éponine replied with a smile as various members of the Amis shuffled chairs and found empty ones to let her and Enjolras sit down, “Especially now that <em>someone</em>…” she looked pointedly at Enjolras, “Has stopped holding me hostage.”</p><p>Enjolras rolled his eyes, “Goodness knows what sort of trouble you would have gotten yourself into if I hadn’t…”</p><p>“Well, you would have drowned in paperwork by now, so I suppose we did each other a favour,” Éponine agreed.</p><p>Grantaire interrupted them by standing on his chair, "I believe a celebration is in order!" he announced, already swaying slightly, "In honour of Éponine's return to the real world, I say we all get completely drunk!"</p><p>"Nothing different from normal for you, then!" Joly called, earning laughs from all of the Amis, Grantaire included.</p><p>"Perhaps it isn't," he agreed as the laughter died down, "But... it would be a first for our dear leader!" everyone turned to Enjolras, who had finally sat down in an empty chair next to Éponine; his face fell into a disapproving frown.</p><p>"I am most certainly not getting drunk."</p><p>"Enjolras, don't be such a killjoy!" Courfeyrac complained, "One little drink is not going to kill you!"</p><p>"I am not being a killjoy," Enjolras protested calmly, "I simply think that it'll be beneficial for everyone if there is at least one sober person in the room." He rested his arm on the back of Éponine’s chair casually, as Les Amis de L'ABC tried to persuade Enjolras to join their drunken night.</p><p>"So you are being a killjoy then?" Courfeyrac repeated.</p><p>"Maybe he's scared that he'll reveal something he doesn't want anyone to know if he's drunk." Combeferre suggested. Enjolras frowned.</p><p>"I do not keep secrets," he stated. <em>Although apparently I do tell lies</em>, he thought to himself. He had never <em>denied</em> being in a relationship with Éponine, but he certainly hadn’t volunteered the information.</p><p>"Then drink." Grantaire placed a cup down in front of him. Enjolras glanced sideways at Éponine, who was apparently trying to control her laughter.</p><p>"Where is Marius when I need him," Enjolras muttered, reaching forward and picking up the cup, "Someone relatively sane in amongst this crowd of lunacy..."</p><p>"Dearest Apollo has lost his saviour," Grantaire almost sung. Grimacing, Enjolras looked around at the group of men surrounding him, each of them awaiting his next move. He sighed, figuring that not drinking would look more suspicious at this point.</p><p>"What the hell..." he muttered and downed the contents in one. A deafening cheer erupted around him and Grantaire clapped him on the back.</p><p>"Welcome to the dark side, Apollo," he laughed, "There's no going back..."</p><hr/><p>Enjolras argued that he had proven his point, but very few around him agreed. Grantaire, Combeferre and Courfeyrac, a somewhat unlikely alliance, found themselves united in an attempt to get their glorious leader to let go a little. In short: they intended to get Enjolras well and truly drunk.</p><p>Their plan was simple: get Enjolras to agree to 'one last drink', make him swear to drink it all, and then proceed to top it up when he wasn't looking.</p><p>And it was incredibly effective.</p><p>By the time the clock struck ten, Enjolras was laughing a lot louder at things that really weren't very funny at all. Twice he had insisted that he wasn't drunk, and twice he had stood up defiantly to argue his point and almost fallen to the floor. He had been repeatedly interrogated on the things he kept secret, and apart from really disliking cats, Les Amis de L'ABC had yet to get anything out of him.</p><p>Éponine was finding the whole ordeal rather hilarious, and she and Joly barely stopped laughing as they each pointed out one of Enjolras' drunken characteristics that the other had missed: the way he waved his hands around dramatically when he started arguing his point; the way he repeated 'now hang on a minute' at least twice before protesting; the way he was completely oblivious to Grantaire, Combeferre and Courfeyrac refilling his glass every five minutes.</p><p>In all truthfulness, she much preferred the calm, steadfast Enjolras with whom she could debate any topic without any love being lost as a result; the Enjolras who had carried her through the rain and nursed her back to health; the Enjolras who was never the first to make a move in their relationship, but who was never the one to end it.</p><p>But, even she had to admit that drunk Enjolras was the most hilarious sight she had ever seen.</p><p>She was actually quite enjoying the freedom of not having him watching her every second, though she did occasionally catch him whipping his head round wildly until he caught her eye from across the room. He seemed to relax once he saw her, and she was sure the others were noticing it, but that didn’t stop her giving him a reassuring smile every time.</p><p>She’d finally found some time to spend with Courfeyrac, who she’d been wanting to talk to for weeks, after he’d mentioned in passing that Gavroche had been staying with him since the barricades.</p><p>“Are you sure you don’t mind him staying with you?” Éponine checked, “I can’t imagine he’s easy to look after, although that being said I haven’t lived with him for longer than I’d like, so I suppose I wouldn’t really know…”</p><p>Courfeyrac smiled, “He’s no trouble, ‘Ponine, really,” he assured her, “And I don’t necessarily ‘look after’ him. He comes and goes as he pleases, I think it’d be impossible to tie him down and I think he’d hate me for it if I tried. I just make sure he has somewhere safe to sleep if he wants and that he eats at least once every twenty-four hours. I’m happy to do it, really.”</p><p>“It should be me, really,” Éponine said, “I tried to look out for him where I could, but… it was always difficult, keeping track of him, even for me. Especially with my father breathing down my neck.”</p><p>“Gavroche loves you, Éponine,” Courfeyrac assured her, “After all this time, I don’t think he wants someone to look out for him. Of course, we’re going to do it anyway, but… he just wants something or someone to come back to, when living on the streets gets a bit much. He knows that he can go to you, and he knows that you love him.”</p><p>Éponine smiled slightly, “Thanks, Courf,” she said, “I’m just not sure how Enjolras would feel about having him in the apartment all the time, you know? But if it does get too much for you to look out for him, then just let me know, and I’ll talk to Enjolras.”</p><p>Courfeyrac shook his head, “I like having him around,” he assured her, “And besides, with you still staying there, isn’t Enjolras kind of out of spare beds?”</p><p>Éponine frowned slightly, about to remind him that Enjolras has a spare bedroom, before she remember that, as far as Courfeyrac was concerned, <em>she</em> was using that spare room.</p><p>“Of course,” she replied quickly, “I was thinking Gavroche could sleep on the sofa, but… you’re right, I’m not sure Enjolras’ apartment would be big enough for three.”</p><p>Courfeyrac nodded, and she thought she saw maybe a little bit of suspicion in his eyes, “So, we’re agreed then,” he said, “Gavroche can stay with me. And, now that Enjolras is letting you out of the house… you can come and visit whenever you like.”</p><p>“Thank you, Courf,” Éponine said genuinely, “It really does mean a lot. And not just the last few weeks… I know that he really looks up to you. I remember seeing him at the meetings and how he’d follow you round like a little shadow.”</p><p>“That must be a family trait, hmm?” Courfeyrac teased, “Gavroche had me, you had Marius…”</p><p>Éponine punched him playfully, “I thought we’d agreed not to call me that anymore?” she retorted, “Where is Marius, anyway? I thought he’d be here, it being the grand reopening and all. I sent word to Cosette, but I’m not sure if it reached her in time.”</p><p>Courfeyrac shrugged, “I saw him yesterday, when we finished up the last few things that needed doing. He said he had plans this evening, but that he’d catch up with us another day.”</p><p>Éponine shrugged, “That’s a shame,” she said, “Although, he’s probably doing something with Cosette, so I suppose he’s happy.”</p><p>Courfeyrac gave her a curious look, “Do you really still care that much? Even after he spent so long oblivious, using you?”</p><p>“It was never like that,” Éponine protested, “He didn’t use me, I offered to help and he accepted. I was just as blind as he was, I think. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to be his friend. Cosette and I have managed to put our past behind us… there’s no reason why I can’t do that with Marius. I want him to be happy just like I want you, or Combeferre, or Grantaire, or <em>any</em> of the Amis to be happy.”</p><p>Courfeyrac reached out, patting her hand, “You’re a good person, Éponine,” he said, “A really good person. One who certainly does not deserve to deal with <em>that</em> when you get home…”</p><p>Éponine followed the direction he was smirking in, seeing Grantaire engaging Enjolras in some kind of elaborate quickstep, their feet getting tangled and inevitably ending with both of them in a heap on the floor.</p><p>She simply breathed a laugh, shaking her head at the craziness unfolding before her and trying not to think about the idea of dealing with a hungover Enjolras the next morning.</p><hr/><p>As the night progressed, Enjolras became more and more hilarious. More than once Grantaire sat on his lap, something that he had only ever tried to do once before when it had resulted in Enjolras' bayonet to threaten somewhere Grantaire would not have wanted an injury (safe to say, he leapt as far away from Enjolras as he possibly could for his own sake).</p><p>But the piece de resistance was most certainly the completely unexpected event that occurred at a few minutes to midnight. Enjolras and Grantaire were standing on a table, singing completely out of tune about something undistinguishable. They finished their duet to a round of applause from the others in the room, and they bowed dramatically, Grantaire perhaps a bit too enthusiastically as he fell into a dive off the table, ending up sprawled on the floor for at least the third time that evening.</p><p>Enjolras on the other hand jumped off the table, approached Éponine, who was standing almost directly in the centre of the room talking to Combeferre, and kissed her passionately. Completely gobsmacked she froze for a second; Enjolras, kissing her in public whilst they were still in a not-completely-official relationship? She must have been dreaming. But after a moment of thinking that, she threw the thought out of the window, resting her hands on his waist and kissing him back.</p><p>Éponine didn't know how long it went on for but when the two finally broke apart, silence filled the room. Éponine blushed bright red as Enjolras grinned like an idiot.</p><p>"Okay, who bet that Enjolras and Éponine were secretly more than friends?" Courfeyrac asked. No one said anything, so he grinned, "Oh yes! That was me! Money, s'il vous plait, gentleman!" he laughed, happily taking several wads of notes from some very grudging hands.</p><p>"Did I just make a huge mistake?" Enjolras asked her.</p><p>"Ask me again when you're sober, Apollo," she said, patting his cheek, before leaving him in the blissful company of a marginally less drunk Combeferre.</p><hr/><p>Enjolras woke the next morning with a headache and no memory of the night before. He groaned as he rolled out of the bed he now shared with Éponine, trudging through to the living room. Éponine was sitting on the sofa, accompanied by Combeferre and Courfeyrac. The three of them looked up as he entered.</p><p>"I, um... don't suppose any of you would like to enlighten me as to what on Earth happened last night?" Enjolras asked. The three of them started laughing.</p><p>"Apollo, you must get drunk more often!" Courfeyrac managed.</p><p>"You put on quite the show!" Combeferre agreed.</p><p>Éponine walked into their little kitchenette and poured Enjolras some water, "Here," she said, handing it to him. He smiled gratefully before pushing Courfeyrac off the sofa so that he could sit next to Éponine. He caught the suggestive glances the other two men gave them.</p><p>"What did I do last night?" he asked carefully. The two men started laughing once more.</p><p>"Let's just say I don't think we'll be hiding our relationship any longer." Éponine whispered to him, taking his hand in hers.</p><p>"And there's no way we could just... brush it off and make everyone forget about it?"</p><p>"Not even the slightest chance," Éponine smiled. Enjolras grinned.</p><p>"In which case..." he said, leaning towards her and pressing his lips against hers, causing Combeferre and Courfeyrac to fall silent once more.</p><p>"There's definitely no going back now," she murmured, leaning her forehead against his</p><p>"I don't care," he replied, smiling.</p><p>"I feel like we're intruding," Courfeyrac muttered to Combeferre, “Do you think we could just sneak out...?"</p><p>"No." Enjolras and Éponine stated immediately.</p><p>"So... when did it happen?" Combeferre asked, smirking.</p><p>"After the barricades," Enjolras told him grudgingly, "I cannot believe you got me drunk..."</p><p>"In our defence..." Courfeyrac started protesting, then shrugging smiling triumphantly, "It wasn't hard." Enjolras rolled his eyes as Éponine chuckled.</p><p>"It really was very entertaining, Enj," Éponine told him, "And, I'm happy to say that you are a much better singer than Grantaire, even as many drinks down as you were."</p><p>"Well, that's something I suppose..." Enjolras grumbled.</p><p>"Well, we'll leave you two to... well, whatever couple-y thing you're going to do today," Courfeyrac chuckled as he stood up, Combeferre following his lead, "We’ll all be in the Musain again this evening if you fancy it. I'm sure the others would agree that we're simply desperate for another show like the one you put on last night!" Enjolras threw a sofa cushion at him, leaving both of his friends laughing.</p><p>"The mighty Enjolras, revolutionary leader... who resorts to throwing pillows as revenge!" Combeferre gasped out between laughs, "Now what would <em>that</em> revelation do for your image?!" And the two escaped Éponine and Enjolras' apartment before anyone could say another word.</p><p>Éponine, too, was laughing, at which Enjolras rolled his eyes again, "It wasn't that funny, Athena!"</p><p>"Oh, but it was," she said, her laughter reducing to a quiet giggle.</p><p>Enjolras, sensing that this conversation would only cause him more embarrassment should it continue, decided to change the subject, "So, what 'couple-y thing' should we do? Courfeyrac may have been joking, but I think it sounds... nice. Normal. Sober..."</p><p>"You've obviously never seen my parents in the same room as each other," Éponine murmured, pressing her lips to his, "You… you don’t want to get back to writing your letters to the government?”</p><p>Enjolras shook his head, “I don’t think I’ll be writing anything coherent in this state,” he admitted, “And besides, I’m still waiting for a rejection of my last letter.”</p><p>Éponine grimaced, but then broke into a grin, “In that case... I think you should teach me how to play the violin." Enjolras' face fell into a disbelieving frown.</p><p>"I hope you realise that that isn't something I can do in a day," he stated, "It's taken me fourteen years to get as good as I am..."</p><p>"How old were you when you started?!" Éponine asked, looking thoroughly shocked</p><p>"Eight," he said, frowning, "My tutor didn't think I engaged in enough activities that weren't schoolwork... playing the violin seemed intellectually challenging enough to keep me entertained." Éponine shook her head.</p><p>"You are far too clever for your own good."</p><p>"Perhaps," he stated, "But it does, apparently, give us a 'couple-y thing' to do."</p><p>"Apparently it does," Éponine agreed, standing up and pulling Enjolras up with her by the hand, "Now teach me, please."</p><p>“Can we not wait until this headache has passed?” Enjolras pleaded, pinching the bridge of his nose with a grimace.</p><p>Éponine snorted quietly, “Fine,” she replied, “So what <em>shall</em> we do?”</p><p>Enjolras thought for a moment, before nodding decisively, “We should have a nap.”</p><p>Éponine looked at him in disbelief, “Really?”</p><p>Enjolras simply nodded, dragging her towards their bedroom. Éponine briefly wondered if he was using ‘nap’ as a code for something more, but when he sprawled himself across their bed, still fully clothed, her question was pretty much answered.</p><p>She sighed, climbing up next to him and sitting with her back against the headboard. Enjolras certainly looked worse for wear, and she stoked his blond curls gently with a small smile on her face.</p><p>Enjolras hummed in content, shuffling until his head was in her lap.</p><p>“You must learn to handle your alcohol, Enj,” Éponine said, her tone still slightly amused.</p><p>“Hmm,” Enjolras replied, “Maybe one day.” He turned until he could look up at her from her lap, his eyes meeting hers with a mischievous glint, “Sing to me?”</p><p>Éponine breathed a laugh, rolling her eyes, “Well, I suppose I do owe you that after all the times you’ve done it for me,” she agreed.</p><p>Éponine sang until Enjolras had fallen asleep again, and then simply sat there, running her hand through his hair gently and wondering how on earth she had ended up here. Not two months previously, she had been living with abusive parents, trailing after Marius believing that she was in love with him, passively absorbing the beliefs of the Amis and finding herself somewhat supportive of their cause.</p><p>Now she was living with Enjolras, the last person she even expected to <em>know</em> personally, let alone live with. She was pretty sure she felt something akin to love for him, though it still felt too new to put a real label on it. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to label it, given the bizarre circumstances that had brought them here. She was spending her days being actively involved with attempts to reform the political hierarchy of the country, a cause that she now had a vested interest in, given that she almost died for it. It still hadn’t really sunk in that she <em>had</em> almost died, and if it hadn’t been for Enjolras’ stubbornness, she probably would have.</p><p>But here she was, sat in bed with a man whose will had almost singlehandedly led to the revolution of the French government, even if the government itself didn’t actually know that yet. She had no doubt that Enjolras would force their hand, even if it took years and another rebellion to do so. And frankly… she couldn’t wait to be a part of it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A New Normal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is essentially a really, really long filler chapter. I probably could have split it into two, but I was feeling lazy and couldn't find a way to make it work within the structure I've got so... enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With the Musain up and running again for the first time in over a month, it finally felt like things were returning to something like ‘normal’.</p>
<p>Of course, for Enjolras, now fully recovered from his hangover, this was bordering on criminal. He used every spare minute to either furiously write out letters, or research to find out which of the currently sitting government officials he <em>hadn’t</em> badgered to the point of insanity yet.</p>
<p>Éponine had been actively taking an interest in what the group had achieved so far, trying to catch up on what she’d missed whenever she hadn’t made it to the meetings before the barricades. Enjolras was happy to oblige, and they would often spend hours discussing even the smallest elements and Enjolras’ plans to reform them.</p>
<p>Enjolras was not surprised to find that Éponine had a <em>lot</em> of opinions about said plans, though he was just marginally shocked when he noted how often she was right.</p>
<p>“You know, had you actually been a part of the cause from day one, we might have gotten a lot further a lot faster,” he noted one evening. They’d started a conversation during dinner about a small element that he’d now forgotten. Three and a half hours on, they were leaning against opposite arms of the sofa with their feet meeting in the middle, still talking, although their conversation had moved on to gaining more support from the masses.</p>
<p>Éponine smirked, “Well, had someone invited me, I might have been inclined to join,” she teased, “But no, you were all happy to let me trail after Marius and stand in the shadows.”</p>
<p>Enjolras rolled his eyes, “Alright, that was possibly an oversight on our part,” he agreed, “<em>But</em>, had you actually tried to share your opinions rather than trying to hide all the time…”</p>
<p>“I wasn’t <em>hiding</em>,” Éponine protested, “I was just… well, I suppose I was hiding a little bit.”</p>
<p>“I think this is one we can blame on Marius,” Enjolras said decisively after a moment, “He spoke to you all the time, but never suggested you join the cause. Definitely his fault.”</p>
<p>Éponine breathed a laugh, “Agreed,” she said. They fell into silence for a moment, “Has Marius said anything to you about him and Cosette?” she asked.</p>
<p>Enjolras frowned, “I don’t think so,” he replied, “Why? Has Cosette said something to you?”</p>
<p>“Nothing explicit,” Éponine replied, “But he has been spending a lot of time at her house. She said her father was planning on offering him their spare bedroom when I last spoke to her, so clearly this is more than him pining over a pretty girl.”</p>
<p>“And her father certainly likes him, if he’s offering to house him before he and Cosette are even engaged…” Enjolras added.</p>
<p>Éponine’s eyes widened just slightly, “You don’t think… no, they would have told us if Marius had proposed, surely?”</p>
<p>“I’m sure they would have,” Enjolras said, “Maybe Marius has just asked for her father’s blessing and is waiting for the right time to pop the question.”</p>
<p>“Maybe,” Éponine agreed. She paused for a moment, “God, we’re never going to hear the end of it once he does propose…”</p>
<p>Enjolras snorted quietly, “I’m sure Marius will only bring it up every other sentence.”</p>
<p>Éponine scoffed, “That’s optimistic. I’m sure Cosette will be talking about it constantly until the big day, and probably after that, too…”</p>
<p>“That’s very insightful, given that you’ve only been friends with her for about a week,” Enjolras teased.</p>
<p>“I’m a very insightful person,” Éponine smirked, nudging his leg with her foot playfully, “You haven’t exactly known Marius that long either.”</p>
<p>“I’ve known him long enough to know that when he gets caught up on something it takes months to sway him,” Enjolras said, “You should have heard some of the rubbish he was talking when Courfeyrac first introduced him to everyone. Marius was one of the most die-hard Bonapartists you could ever hear…”</p>
<p>Éponine breathed a laugh, “Well, clearly you managed to change his opinion.”</p>
<p>“Two months, that took,” Enjolras muttered, “I’ve never spoken to someone more infuriating… although I suppose it was good practice for when we eventually got around to actually challenging the government. Maybe if I’d built a barricade outside of Marius’ house, he would have come around quicker…”</p>
<p>“I’m glad it didn’t take such extremes,” Éponine said, smiling at his dramatics, “You know, I don’t think anyone has ever told me how you all met.”</p>
<p>She was genuinely curious, as this was one element of the revolution that no one had told her yet; she had become close to almost all of the Amis, and was at least on speaking terms with the rest, but she had never heard the story of how the group had come to be the way it was.</p>
<p>Enjolras crossed his arms and rested them on his knees, smiling slightly, “It started with Courfeyrac and me, actually,” he said, “Many, many years ago, long before our degrees. We both grew up in wealthy families, and our parents were acquaintances. They encouraged us together, I think; Courfeyrac has three sisters, so his parents wanted him to have some male company. I think I became as much a brother to him as he did me.</p>
<p>“When I told him I was moving to central Paris to study, he decided to come with me. We had long since started noticing societal injustice, we would discuss it most evenings, and… well, I suppose it grew from there. We picked up Combeferre in the library one day, when he overheard us talking about what we would change if we could. He was on his second degree by then, studying medicine, but his first was in law. We must have sat there for hours, discussing things, and we agreed to meet at the Café Musain the next evening to continue.”</p>
<p>“Ah, and so the rest was history,” Éponine said with a grin.</p>
<p>“And so the rest was history,” Enjolras agreed.</p>
<p>“Did you meet them all through your studies?”</p>
<p>“Some, not all,” Enjolras replied, “I met Joly through Combeferre, of course, because they were studying together, and Joly started bringing Bossuet to the Musain whenever he was staying with him. Grantaire would always be in the Musain when we would meet and would listen in and occasionally challenge our views. He was another infuriating case, though I think he mostly argued with me because he knew how irritated I could get…”</p>
<p>“Undoubtedly.”</p>
<p>Enjolras smirked slightly, “Although, actually, that worked in my favour. It was one of my arguments with Grantaire that attracted Feuilly and Jehan to the cause. And Bahorel was studying at the same law school as me, but we eventually met because he was working with a group similar to the Amis. He started acting as a kind of go-between to share thoughts and ideas with other groups across the city.”</p>
<p>“Wow,” Éponine said, “I find it amazing how you all came together because of a shared interest. The only things I’ve ever witnessed a passion for are money and cruelty, and I didn’t come from a wealthy background even before we lost the inn.”</p>
<p>Enjolras grimaced, “And therein lies the problem in our broken society. The poor think that money will make them rich. In truth, I think the rich would look down on a self-made man as if he too was a peasant…”</p>
<p>Éponine shook her head, “You do have a way with words, Apollo,” she said, slightly in awe, “It’s no wonder you were able to convince Marius to leave his old views behind.”</p>
<p>“It is nice to speak about the cause with you,” Enjolras admitted, “I’m missing the meetings, but I don’t want to stop the others from socialising when they’ve done and risked so much already. And there’s also not much point in calling regular meetings when none of us know what we’re preparing for. We always knew that there was going to be a revolt before the barricades, so we knew to focus on finding key locations, acquiring weapons, gathering support. Not knowing where we stand… it’s a position that I haven’t been in before.”</p>
<p>Éponine looked at him sympathetically, “You’re doing all you can,” she assured him, patting his knee, “You’re writing to find someone who will listen. I refuse to believe that every single one will ignore you, but if they do… that offers you as much clarity as getting a positive response will. Either someone listens and we start to implement change… or they refuse to see sense and we force their hand again.”</p>
<p>Enjolras blinked at her for a moment, “And you say I have a way with words…”</p>
<p>Éponine blushed slightly, not really knowing how to respond to his compliment, but they were both content to just sit with the silence for a while after talking for so long.</p>
<p>“So, are we going to the Musain tomorrow evening?” she asked eventually, “We haven’t been in over a week.”</p>
<p>“Well, if Courfeyrac and Grantaire weren’t so intent on getting me drunk whenever I walk in the door…” Enjolras complained, “Honestly, I tried so hard to keep an eye on my drink last time.”</p>
<p>Éponine grinned, “They know you too well, Apollo,” she told him, “They know exactly how to distract you. That is a downside to your passionate nature, I think.”</p>
<p>Enjolras grimaced, “I know it’s only happened twice, but I refuse to wake you up in the middle of the night throwing up in the sink again. But by all means, you go. I don’t want to keep you inside if you’d rather be elsewhere.”</p>
<p>“It’s no fun without you,” Éponine protested, “You know I appreciate the others and consider them all friends, but… you make the group whole. And I feel like a little bit of an outsider when you’re not there.”</p>
<p>“You’re not an outsider,” he said, reaching out to hold the hand that was still resting on his knee, “You belong there as much as any of them. But… you’re right about us not going for a while. I suppose I should make an effort to see them, now that we <em>don’t</em> have the meetings as an excuse.”</p>
<p>Éponine smiled, “Thank you,” she said genuinely, “I know you don’t always enjoy the socialising, but… just the opportunity is a bit of a novelty for me. I’m astonished that my father hasn’t managed to track me down yet.”</p>
<p>“Don’t jinx it,” Enjolras said, “Although, by the sounds of it, you were the one who did most of the finding before.”</p>
<p>Éponine shrugged, “It was one of my many talents,” she said, smirking slightly, “He does have other sources though.” A slightly haunted look came across her face, but she shook it off after a moment, replacing it with a kind of resigned smile, “Shall we go to bed?”</p>
<p>Enjolras nodded, releasing her hand as they both stood up from the couch.</p>
<p>“Éponine,” he stopped her gently, resting his hands on her arms, “Try not to worry about your father. I doubt he’ll find you here, but if he does… I’m ready and more than willing to fight him.”</p>
<p>Éponine smiled properly then, “I know,” she replied, “You proved that the first night we properly met.”</p>
<p>Enjolras couldn’t help but smile himself, recalling that night just days before the barricades.</p>
<p>“Yes, I did,” he said. He squeezed her arms before dropping his hands to take hers, “Let’s go to bed.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>Given Enjolras’ reservations regarding his friends getting him drunk far past his limits against his will, Éponine spent most of the next morning giving him tips on how to avoid that very event.</p>
<p>“It’s all about balance, Apollo,” she told him, “You just need to eat, and drink as much water as you do alcohol.”</p>
<p>“You make it sound so easy,” Enjolras replied, eyebrows raised, “And you’re sure that will work?”</p>
<p>Éponine shrugged, “Hopefully. And at the very least you get to give Courfeyrac and Grantaire a taste of their own medicine.”</p>
<p>And so they headed arm-in-arm to the Musain that evening with a plan. It almost felt like the old days, walking from his apartment with an agenda in mind, though the idea of going just for fun still felt slightly wrong to Enjolras, and he said as much to Éponine as they walked.</p>
<p>“There will be more meetings, Enjolras,” Éponine assured him for possibly the hundredth time in the last few weeks, “You just have to play a bit of a waiting game first. You said it yourself, getting everyone too hyped up now would be pointless. And besides… I think they’ve earnt a little bit of celebration time, don’t you? Taking a few weeks to rebuild, recover and regroup does not invalidate your passion for the cause.”</p>
<p>Enjolras nodded reluctantly after a moment, “You’re right,” he agreed, “Although, maybe I could start provisionally planning for a range of different possibilities…”</p>
<p>“Maybe you could,” Éponine said, “But for tonight… can we just have some fun with our friends, please?”</p>
<p>Enjolras nodded again, “Of course,” he replied, squeezing her arm lightly with his spare hand.  </p>
<p>They had reached the Musain by this point and were met with a chorus of cheers as they reached the top of the stairs.</p>
<p>“Ah, Apollo! We thought we might have scared you off for good!” Grantaire teased.</p>
<p>Éponine and Enjolras brought over chairs and slotted in between Joly and Jehan at the table. It was a slightly smaller group than usual, with Combeferre, Bahorel and Feuilly all missing, and though Marius was physically present, Éponine tried to catch his eye across the table and he seemed completely oblivious to the world around him.</p>
<p>“I’m afraid not,” Enjolras replied wryly, “You’ll have to try slightly harder than that to scare me away.”</p>
<p>“But if he wakes me up one more time throwing up at two in the morning, I’ll make sure that it’s not worth your while to try,” Éponine added, smirking.</p>
<p>“Ah, it’s all just a bit of fun,” Grantaire said, waving their comments off.</p>
<p>“Although, that did sound an awful lot like a challenge, Enjolras,” Courfeyrac said, a glint of mischief in his eyes.</p>
<p>Enjolras glanced at Éponine almost imperceptibly, and she hid a grin behind a feigned cough.</p>
<p>“Well, why don’t we make it a challenge?” Enjolras suggested, “A… wager, of sorts.”</p>
<p>Grantaire and Courfeyrac were both silent for a moment, staring at him with wide eyes.</p>
<p>“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Courfeyrac asked.</p>
<p>Enjolras nodded, “Éponine has given me a few, supposedly common sense, tips. And I’m intrigued to see if they work.”</p>
<p>“You… you’re actually <em>allowing</em> us to get you drunk?”</p>
<p>“Call it an experiment,” Enjolras shrugged, “But… there are two conditions. First, you have to drink just as much of whatever you give me as I do. Both of you.”</p>
<p>Grantaire and Courfeyrac glanced at each other, seemingly weighing up the potential consequences.</p>
<p>“Done,” Courfeyrac said firmly after a moment, “And the second?”</p>
<p>“To avoid this becoming a permanent feature of this new reality we find ourselves in… if either of you wake up in a worse state than me tomorrow morning, you have to swear to never try to get me drunk ever again, secretly or otherwise.”</p>
<p>Grantaire and Courfeyrac looked at each other again.</p>
<p>“Do <em>not</em> ruin this for us,” Grantaire said, pointing a finger at Courfeyrac accusatively.</p>
<p>Courfeyrac held up his hands, “I won’t, I promise.”</p>
<p>They looked back to Enjolras with matching grins, “Deal.”</p>
<p>Grantaire shoved a cup of wine in front of the man before he could change his mind. Enjolras picked it up and held it up to the two of them, “Let the best man win,” he said, smirking slightly.</p>
<p>Grantaire had already acquired another drink, and both he and Courfeyrac raised their glasses.</p>
<p>“Try not to be too upset when it’s not you, Apollo,” Grantaire said, “We do have much more experience at this than you.”</p>
<p>Enjolras didn’t dignify that with a response, simply rolling his eyes as he turned to Éponine.</p>
<p>“They also don’t have you on their side,” he muttered to her quietly.</p>
<p>Éponine grinned, “This is going to be fun…”</p>
<hr/>
<p>The evening itself at the Musain had been relatively uneventful; Enjolras never seemed to get past ‘slightly tipsy’, and didn’t do anything worth noting (aside from refusing to let go of Éponine’s hand for at least an hour, eventually relenting only because she threatened, lovingly, to cut it off if he wouldn’t let her go to the toilet).</p>
<p>Grantaire and Courfeyrac were significantly more entertaining, but it had now got to the point where them slow dancing around the Musain’s upper floor was a regular occurrence, rather than a fun novelty.</p>
<p>The next morning, Enjolras woke up with a slight headache but otherwise completely fine, so he deemed their experiment a solid success. He even managed to have a full-on debate with Éponine over breakfast, which spoke volumes about how capable he really was despite the amount of alcohol Grantaire and Courfeyrac had plied him with.</p>
<p>It was early afternoon when Enjolras discovered how his friends were coping. The news came in the form of Combeferre, who was grinning when Enjolras let him into his apartment.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what you did to Courf last night, but I’m gutted that I missed it,” Combeferre said, “He’s suffering. I went to see him this morning and he wasn’t even out of bed. He threw up twice whilst I was there, and repeatedly said that it felt like the entire French army was stampeding through his head.”</p>
<p>Enjolras smirked, “That’ll teach him for getting me drunk… twice. What of Grantaire? How’s he holding up?”</p>
<p>“I haven’t seen him, but no doubt he’s doing better than Courf, given that he’s an experienced drunkard,” Combeferre rolled his eyes, “Honestly, that man has too much of a leniency for alcohol…”</p>
<p>“You don’t need to tell me,” Enjolras muttered, “But I suppose that’s just Grantaire.”</p>
<p>“Well, I’m glad you’re not suffering too much, mon ami, but I was only popping in quickly to fill you in,” Combeferre said, making his way towards the door, “I told Courf that I’m come and check on him again.”</p>
<p>He opened the door and was met with Éponine, who had just returned from meeting with Cosette.</p>
<p>“Good afternoon, Éponine,” he said with a smile.</p>
<p>“Oh, hello, ‘Ferre,” Éponine replied, “What brings you here?”</p>
<p>“The same thing that is now making me leave,” Combeferre told her, “Courfeyrac’s feeling a little bit… indisposed after last night.”</p>
<p>Éponine smirked, “That’ll teach him for getting Enjolras drunk… twice.”</p>
<p>Courfeyrac laughed, “That’s exactly what he said,” he replied, gesturing to Enjolras.</p>
<p>“Is it bad that I slightly want to witness his suffering?” Éponine asked.</p>
<p>“Oh, I found it thoroughly amusing,” Combeferre replied, “You’re welcome to come with me, if you’d like?”</p>
<p>Éponine glanced at Enjolras who grinned.</p>
<p>“I think I should make sure Courf understands the result of our little bet in person, don’t you, Éponine?”</p>
<p>Éponine nodded immediately, “Definitely,” she replied, “Not to mention, Cosette asked me to pass a message on to everyone, so… two birds, one stone.”</p>
<p>Enjolras picked up his jacket and they both followed Combeferre out of their apartment.</p>
<p>“What did Cosette ask you to pass on?” Enjolras asked her.</p>
<p>“Just for everyone to meet in the Musain at eight o’clock tonight,” Éponine shrugged, “Something about Marius wanting to introduce her to everyone properly, as they missed the grand reopening. I think it’s probably more her wanting to meet everyone than him, but she didn’t elaborate.”</p>
<p>“I still haven’t met her,” Combeferre said, “So I suppose it makes sense if Marius really is in love with the girl.”</p>
<p>“Oh, they’re besotted, ‘Ferre,” Éponine assured him, “Enjolras and I were talking about how imminent a proposal probably is just two nights ago, weren’t we, Enj?”</p>
<p>“We were,” Enjolras confirmed, “He did seem very unfocused last night though, even for Marius…”</p>
<p>“I noticed that as well,” Éponine frowned, “I hope everything is alright with him.”</p>
<p>“Well, no doubt we’ll find out this evening,” Combeferre shrugged.</p>
<p>Combeferre took advantage of the walk to Courfeyrac’s apartment, asking if Enjolras had heard from the government. Enjolras readily shared his new plans to start considering a range of potentialities and how they might react to each one.</p>
<p>“Sounds like you have everything under control, Enjolras,” Combeferre said with a smile as they climbed the stairs of Courfeyrac’s apartment building, “If you’d ever like to discuss or run anything by someone, you know where to find me.”</p>
<p>“I do, mon ami,” Enjolras assured him, “It’s all preliminary at the moment, but now that Éponine is well-”</p>
<p>“You could have started this weeks ago, don’t pin this on me!” Éponine joked.</p>
<p>“I’m starting to make progress,” Enjolras finished, ignoring his girlfriend’s jibe.</p>
<p>They reached Courfeyrac’s door and Combeferre didn’t even bother knocking, simply pushing it open.</p>
<p>“Courf?” he called, “Are you still alive?”</p>
<p>“Shhh,” was all they got in response from a mound of blankets on the sofa.</p>
<p>Combeferre approached, pulling the blankets back to reveal Courfeyrac’s squinting face.</p>
<p>“’Ferre!” he protested, “It’s so bright in here…”</p>
<p>“Yes, this is what the afternoon looks like, ‘Fey,” Combeferre teased, “I brought visitors.”</p>
<p>“Why would you do that?!” Courfeyrac groaned, “You are a <em>terrible</em> friend!”</p>
<p>“Hi, Courf!” Éponine said brightly, “You look terrible.”</p>
<p>He <em>did</em> look terrible; his face was pale with dark circles under his eyes, his hair stuck out at odd angles and he was shivering even with four blankets piled on top of him.</p>
<p>“I, er… think this counts as you being in a worse state than me, don’t you, mon ami?” Enjolras asked cheerfully.</p>
<p>“You, <em>both</em> of you,” Courfeyrac emphasised, looking between Enjolras and Éponine, “Are <em>evil</em>.”</p>
<p>Enjolras turned to Éponine and grinned, “It’s true what they say. Revenge is sweet…”</p>
<p>Combeferre had disappeared into Courfeyrac’s kitchen, but he returned then with a cup of water in hand.</p>
<p>“Drink up, Courf,” he instructed, “And remember how this feels the next time you feel like teaming up with Grantaire for a bet…”</p>
<p>“Oh, God, I forgot about him,” Courfeyrac said, running a hand over his face, “He’s going to <em>kill</em> me…”</p>
<p>“Tonight may be even more fun than last night…” Enjolras said, still grinning widely.</p>
<p>“I’m never going to the Musain again,” Courfeyrac said with as much conviction as he could muster.</p>
<p>“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen,” Éponine replied, though her tone was somewhat sympathetic, “You’ll have to come tonight, at least. Marius has ordered all of us there at eight so that Cosette can meet everyone.”</p>
<p>“But I’ve already met her!” Courfeyrac whined, “No one wants to see me in this state, anyway.”</p>
<p>“Don’t be stupid, we want you there,” Combeferre said, “Hungover face and all.”</p>
<p>“Plus, I’m going to need to prove to everyone that I won the bet,” Enjolras added. Éponine immediately nudged him with her elbow, giving him a look that clearly said ‘don’t be insensitive, this was you a week ago’.</p>
<p>Courfeyrac groaned, resting the cup of water in his hand against his forehead, searching for the tiniest bit of relief.</p>
<p>“Eugh, fine,” he said eventually, “But I’m not drinking. And you three have to protect me from Grantaire.” He pointed at each of them individually, giving them looks that just about managed to be menacing.</p>
<p>Éponine grinned, “Thanks, Courf. I know Marius will appreciate it.” She glanced at the clock on the wall and rested a hand on Enjolras’ arm, “We should go, Enj, I told Cosette I’d make sure everyone knows about tonight.”</p>
<p>Enjolras nodded, “See you both this evening,” he said to Combeferre and Courfeyrac.</p>
<p>“See you tonight,” Combeferre confirmed as Courfeyrac buried himself back under his blankets.</p>
<p>Enjolras shook his head in disbelief as he and Éponine headed out of the building, “I cannot believe your plan worked… now I’m curious as to what else you can teach me.”</p>
<p>Éponine slipped her arm through his, “Oh, I could teach you... how to pickpocket... how to cry on demand... how to blackmail people into handing over everything in their coat..." she almost laughed at the look of shock on his face, "It's how the oppressed live, Enjolras. You should know that."</p>
<p>"Yes, I probably should," her muttered, wondering jokily if Éponine had used one of her many tricks to make him care for her so dearly.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Éponine and Enjolras spent the rest of their afternoon going to see each of their friends in turn to pass on Marius and Cosette’s request. By suppertime, they had managed to track all of them down and make sure they would be in the Musain that evening.</p>
<p>The two made their way to the Musain slightly early, strolling from their apartment hand-in-hand.</p>
<p>“I hope it’s not too much of a late night,” Éponine said as they reached the door, “Two nights in a row almost feels too much after a week of not going out at all…”</p>
<p>“I agree,” Enjolras replied, “We’ve both met Cosette, maybe we can sneak out early…”</p>
<p>Éponine snorted as they started up the stairs, “Are you really counting that time we bumped into her and her father as you ‘meeting’ her? You said ‘mademoiselle’ and then launched into talking about the revolution with Monsieur Fauchelevent!”</p>
<p>“If it gets me to bed earlier then, yes, obviously I’m counting it!”</p>
<p>They reached the top of the stairs, finding around half of their friends already there, Marius and Cosette among them. Enjolras set about finding them both seats as Éponine walked around to say hello to their friends.</p>
<p>“Éponine!” Cosette smiled brightly as she approached, immediately wrapping her in a hug, “Thank you so much for getting everyone here, Marius and I were just so busy this afternoon…”</p>
<p>“What are friends for?” Éponine asked rhetorically before Cosette could start rambling (a habit Éponine had identified over the previous few weeks).</p>
<p>Cosette released her but she was almost immediately engulfed in another embrace from Marius, catching her off-guard.</p>
<p>“It really does mean a lot, ‘Ponine,” he said, “Thank you.”</p>
<p>When he let go, Éponine stepped back a little bit, looking at Marius in bemusement, “Well, you certainly seem a lot more ‘with us’ than you did last night,” she commented, “You looked like you were asleep with your eyes open when we were here yesterday evening!”</p>
<p>Marius breathed a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously, “Did I? I suppose I had a lot on my mind…”</p>
<p>Cosette snorted quietly beside him, but by the time Éponine had turned to look at her she seemed to be having a minor coughing fit, covering her mouth with her hand and inadvertently attracting Joly’s suspicious attention.</p>
<p>As Cosette waved Joly away, insisting that she was fine, Éponine’s eyes narrowed slightly, “What are you two up to?” she asked suspiciously.</p>
<p>“Us? Up to… don’t be absurd, we aren’t… I mean, we would never…”</p>
<p>Éponine simply raised her eyebrows and Marius’ flailing trailed off, “Fine, don’t tell me,” she said, holding her hands up, “Keep your secrets…”</p>
<p>She moved away, making her way back around to Enjolras, who had squeezed two chairs onto a table with Combeferre, Feuilly and Jehan. He frowned when she reached him.</p>
<p>“Why do Marius and Cosette look like you just told them you were going to eat them?”</p>
<p>“Because they’re hiding something,” Éponine muttered, “And I caught them trying to cover it up by acting normal in the most abnormal way I’ve ever experienced.”</p>
<p>“Ah,” Enjolras smirked, “Yes, that makes more sense.”</p>
<p>“Marius was babbling and stumbling over his words like there was no tomorrow when I asked what they were up to,” Éponine told him.</p>
<p>Enjolras shrugged, “Well, Marius does tend to do that sometimes,” he admitted, “He’s not the best at dealing with being challenged.”</p>
<p>“Hmm…”</p>
<p>Slowly but surely the rest of their friends arrived, and the volume in the room increased as numerous conversations started overlapping. Courfeyrac sat in a corner, having arrived twenty minutes late. He was still pale, and his eyes were narrowed, though no one bothered to ask whether this was to fight off his persistent headache or out of suspicion that Grantaire was plotting some way to kill him.</p>
<p>Grantaire <em>was</em> furious that they had lost their bet, but he did congratulate Enjolras with a customary smirk.</p>
<p>“There’s a drunkard in you yet, Apollo!”</p>
<p>“There most certainly is <em>not</em>,” Enjolras told him, “I’ll be sticking to one, singular, not-refilled cup from now on, thank you.”</p>
<p>Cosette and Marius spent the next hour making a round of the room, ensuring that she got to meet everyone individually (and, of course, hear numerous embarrassing stories about Marius).</p>
<p>Enjolras and Éponine were engaging in casual conversation with Jehan and Combeferre, Feuilly having disappeared to get another round of drinks.</p>
<p>“So… they haven’t even told <em>you</em> why they really wanted everyone here?” Jehan asked.</p>
<p>Éponine frowned slightly, “Well… they just said so that Cosette could meet everyone.”</p>
<p>“It does seem like a lot of effort, doesn’t it?” Combeferre pointed out, “And why so all of a sudden?”</p>
<p>“Well… they’ve been together a couple of months now, maybe they just thought it was time?” Enjolras suggested. Combeferre and Jehan both stared at him and he sighed, “Alright, I did think it was a bit bizarre.”</p>
<p>Éponine turned to look at him, “Why didn’t you say anything? Is it really that weird?”</p>
<p>“Well… Marius and Cosette have been awfully distant since things started getting… serious between then,” Combeferre pointed out, “Marius hardly ever comes for a drink anymore, and before today I think you were the only one who had met Cosette properly at all, Éponine.”</p>
<p>“Courfeyrac has met her a few times,” Éponine protested, “And Enjolras had as well…” she trailed off when Enjolras gave her a look, and she sighed, deflating slightly, “Alright, I suppose it is a bit strange. But I can’t think of anything that…” she trailed off, frowning suddenly.</p>
<p>“What is it?” Enjolras asked.</p>
<p>“Well, it’s just that… on the first night of the barricades… Cosette asked me to take a letter to Marius. She didn’t know who I was then, of course, or at least not enough to remember that we’d already met. And I… well, I read it. And she said that her father was taking her to London, and she begged Marius to go with her. He didn’t, of course, and something else must have happened because Cosette’s father joined you on the barricades, but… I’m wondering if perhaps they’re intending to go through with that plan now after all.”</p>
<p>Jehan frowned, “But surely she would have said something to you? I thought you two were quite… close.”</p>
<p>Éponine smiled slightly, “We’re friends,” she told him, “But… well. I’m not sure we’re quite that close yet. We’re still learning to trust each other, and… well, there are quite a few years for us to leave behind as well.”</p>
<p>“You certainly seem a lot more friendly than you think, ‘Ponine,” Combeferre told her, “And having spoken to Marius… they both seem very grateful for you.”</p>
<p>Éponine shrugged, “Anyway,” she said quickly, “Perhaps the reason they called us all here wasn’t just for Cosette to meet everyone…”</p>
<p>“But to say goodbye as well,” Jehan finished for her, “It would make sense, wouldn’t it? Goodness knows, after everything… I can’t imagine the group without Marius there. Especially given how ready he was to blow himself up with the barricades…”</p>
<p>“Leaving that kind of behaviour behind may not be a bad thing,” Enjolras muttered, “Given how unproductive that would have been that night…”</p>
<p>“Probably about as unproductive as you abandoning your post to carry me through the heavily-guarded streets of Paris to a hospital in the pouring rain,” Éponine said to him. Enjolras smirked slightly as he took a sip of his drink.</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t call that entirely unproductive,” he replied, “You survived, didn’t you?”</p>
<p>Éponine rolled her eyes, but didn’t get a chance to retort as Marius and Cosette found a space where everyone could see them and the former of the two coughed loudly.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, everyone?” he called, “I have, er… something I’d like to say.”</p>
<p>It took a few moments, but the room eventually died down, all faces turning to look to the couple.</p>
<p>“First of all, we’d like to thank everyone so much for coming this evening,” Marius started, “It’s been wonderful for Cosette to meet you all and learn a little bit about what brought us all together. So, thank you to Éponine and Enjolras for doing the rounds and getting everyone here.”</p>
<p>There were some claps and cheers directed in Éponine and Enjolras’ direction before Marius was allowed to continue.</p>
<p>“But, um… we perhaps weren’t <em>entirely</em> honest in our reasoning for getting everyone here tonight…”</p>
<p>“Knew it,” Jehan muttered, catching Combeferre’s eye with a grin.</p>
<p>“Shhh,” Éponine said, hitting his arm.</p>
<p>“The thing is… Cosette and I are engaged to be married ,” Marius said.</p>
<p>There was utter silence in the room for a moment, which was probably a first for the Amis, until everyone clamoured to congratulate them at once. The group slowly converged on the couple to give hugs and handshakes, and Cosette looked distinctly uncomfortable when Grantaire wrapped her in an embrace that lifted her off the floor.</p>
<p>Éponine breathed a laugh as she wrapped her in a gentler hug immediately after, “That’s the kind of thing you can look forward to now,” she warned playfully, “Congratulations, Cosette. I’m so happy for you and Marius.”</p>
<p>“Really?” Cosette checked, her voice dropping slightly so that it was masked by the noise of the others, “I thought about telling you this morning, but… I was worried you might be upset.”</p>
<p>“Nonsense,” Éponine said firmly, “Marius and I are friends. Close friends, Cosette, but… just friends. I want him to be happy, and I want <em>you</em> to be happy, and I’m glad you can have that together.”</p>
<p>Cosette looked like she had tears in her eyes, but she pulled Éponine into another hug before either of them could start feeling awkward about it.</p>
<p>Eventually, Marius tried to take control again.</p>
<p>“Thank you, everyone,” he called over the noise, “We’re so glad that you can share in our excitement. Especially given that the wedding is in a months’ time.”</p>
<p>There were murmurs of surprise.</p>
<p>“A month, mon ami?!” Courfeyrac called, his hangover somewhat forgotten in his shock, “Don’t these things normally take slightly longer than a month to plan?”</p>
<p>“Well, yes, normally,” Marius confirmed, “But… well. With everything that’s happened, we thought… why wait?”</p>
<p>One glance at Enjolras told Éponine that he could think of several reasons why they should wait, but no one voiced any as Grantaire stood up and lifted his cup.</p>
<p>“A toast, then!” he called, “To the soon to be Mr and Mrs Pontmercy! Good luck to you Cosette… I don’t know of many who would attempt what you are with our dear Marius…”</p>
<p>Grantaire winked at Éponine, who gave him a death glare worthy of Enjolras in return, as their friends raised their glasses.</p>
<p>“Marius and Cosette!”</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Marius said again, “We, er… we’re going to need all the help we can get preparing for this wedding, so it’s good to have you all on board. But, for tonight… we’d like it very much if you’d all just celebrate with us.”</p>
<p>The group descended onto mild chaos as everyone tried to give Marius and Cosette their best wishes. Enjolras and Éponine had returned to their table, happy to sit back to take in the news for a moment by themselves.</p>
<p>“Looks like times really are changing,” Enjolras muttered, his eyes following a beaming Marius for a moment.</p>
<p>Éponine smiled softly, “Their lives, certainly,” she agreed, resting a hand on his arm, “They’ve got a big new adventure ahead of them. But do you know what?”</p>
<p>Enjolras turned his head to look at her, “Enlighten me.”</p>
<p>Éponine turned to meet his eyes, smiling brightly, “I’m quite happy in our own little adventure right now. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”</p>
<p>Enjolras breathed a laugh, leaning forward slightly until his forehead rested against hers.</p>
<p>“Is that your not-so-subtle way of telling me not to mope?” he asked.</p>
<p>Éponine simply smiled wider, kissing him lightly on the lips.</p>
<p>“I’m happy, too,” Enjolras murmured when she pulled back again, “I’m glad I’ve got you by my side to face whatever is coming next.”</p>
<p>And with that, they sat back to revel in their friends’ joy, glimpsing just a sliver of what their new ‘normal’ was going to be like.</p>
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